


Curiosity Is Not a Sin

by beeezie



Series: (Sidenote: Scorose) [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: HPFT, F/M, Harry Potter Next Generation, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 102,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3771655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beeezie/pseuds/beeezie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div>
  <p>It's still only September, but Rose has already jinxed Scorpius Malfoy's hair and can't stop eavesdropping on his embarrassing conversations - about her. He can't figure out whether he'd rather hex her or kiss her.</p>
  <p>Well, O.W.L. year was never going to be simple.</p>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	1. Albus's Guilt Trip

**Author's Note:**

> _Best Next-Gen in HPFF Ultimate Ship-Off • HPFF Gryffindor Story of the Month January 2012 • HPFF Ravenclaw Story of the Month April 2015 • HPFF Ravenclaw Best Characterization (Rose Weasley) April 2015_

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose has Quidditch practice, dinner, and an unpleasant encounter with Scorpius Malfoy.
> 
> _"We’re just ruthless to get what we want.”_

_Thanks to heartfelt @ the-dark-arts.net for the amazing CI!_

  
  


As a rule, Rose Weasley had very little to do with Slytherin House.

She didn’t avoid Slytherin House because of its old reputation. She avoided it because she simply didn’t like the qualities that defined Slytherins very much. Whatever Albus and her mother said – and they had quite a bit to say on the subject – their calculating tendencies were downright unnatural.

Gryffindors, on the other hand, were much more sensible. They did things because they wanted to, not because they thought it would get them something later. They had courage. They had _nerve._

Which was why they were going to stomp the rest of the school in Quidditch again this year.

That is, assuming her teammates didn't kill her first.

Rose had been working with her friend Natalia Jordan on their Herbology assignment in the library when Natalia had asked whether Quidditch practice had been canceled.

Rose, who had not been paying very close attention to the time and consequently thought it was significantly earlier than it actually was, had cursed, stuffed her books, parchment, and quill into her bag, and beat a hasty retreat to Gryffindor Tower.

She was almost fifteen minutes late by the time she burst into the changing room. James was sitting backwards in the chair he and their cousin Roxanne had charmed two years before in honour of his being made captain. The lions that had at one point been stationary decorations were prowling up across the back of the seat; they seemed to have picked up James’s impatience.

“Sorry,” Rose panted, slumping against the wall next to the door and trying to catch her breath.

“Thank you for finally joining us.” James’s voice was flat. Rose rarely saw him without a grin on his face, but he took Quidditch very seriously.

“You’re welcome.” She dropped onto the wooden bench closest to the door and waited for him to start.

One of the lions had settled onto the back of James’s chair. It watched them as he started talking, flicking its tail around and occasionally craning its neck to look up at the dark-haired captain.

James ran a hand through his dark hair. It was already very messy; if he’d been messing it up that much, he must have been even more irritated with Rose’s tardiness than he’d showed. “We’ve got a great team. A winning team. I don’t need to tell you that.”

“But we love to hear it,” their cousin Roxanne said. She was leaning forward intently, the braids she’d been toying with when Rose walked in gathered into a loose bun and completely forgotten. Rose was still not sure whether James had appointed Roxanne as his unofficial co-captain or whether Roxanne had appointed herself, but either way, they made a very good team. They had been Beaters on the team since their second year, and Rose personally thought that they were brilliant.

James smirked. “And I love to say it. At any rate, since we’re obviously shoe-ins to win this year as well, I just want to put you all on notice: I want us to set records that no one will ever beat. I want us to be remembered as the best team this school has ever seen.” He pounded his fist into his palm. “Now, I know that on most teams, I wouldn’t need to say this, but please, let’s avoid serious transgressions for the week or so preceding the match. I really don’t need anyone in detention for a game.”

“What if we’re absolutely sure that we won’t get caught?” Roxanne asked. Her dark brown eyes were shining in anticipation, and Rose wondered what plans she and James had already hatched; they’d only gotten back to school a few weeks before, but her cousins never did like to wait.

“Then I have to wonder why I’m not there with you,” James shot back, and she laughed. He swung one leg over the back of the chair and stood. “Come on, we’ve lost enough daylight as it is, thanks to Rose.”

“I really am sorry,” Rose told him as they grabbed their broomsticks and followed the rest of the team out the door. “I was trying to finish an essay and lost track of time.”

He reached out and ruffled her hair. “Just don’t let it happen again.” He kicked off.

She laughed and did the same. James really was one of her favorite cousins.

When they trooped into the dining hall several hours later, Roxanne and James were both covered in dirt. They had taken a break halfway through practice to imitate some of the less talented and more slow-witted Beaters they’d known in their time at Hogwarts. They’d each landed in the dirt at least twice. Neither of them seemed to care.

The rest of the team peeled off to sit with friends toward quickly, but Rose continued up the table until she found her cousin Albus with some of their friends.

She poked him. “Hey, squeeze over.” He inched closer to Colleen Macmillan, and she sat down between him and Alex Finnigan.

Albus handed her a plate. “Here, I saved you some food.”

The steam of the potatoes and carrots wafted up as she took the plate, and she inhaled deeply. “Thanks, Al.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome. How was practice?”

“Good,” she said, beginning to shovel food into her mouth.

“Do you think we might have a chance of winning this year?” She glanced at Alex, who’d asked the question; he had a smile on his face.

Rose swallowed before responding. “Oh, I think we’ve got half a shot. I’m going to be busy, though - maybe I’ll just give up sleeping. Why did they make _me_ a prefect, again?”

He squeezed her arm gently. The show of sympathy didn’t last very long; he quickly added, “Better you than me!”

After a few more minutes of idle conversation, the empty platters were replaced with cakes, pies, and biscuits.

Their fellow fifth years finished dessert before she was even finished with dinner and headed back up to Gryffindor tower, but Albus kept her company until she’d had her fill. By that time, the Great Hall was nearly deserted, and she sighed. “I should probably finish my Herbology essay, huh?”

“Probably,” said Albus. “Do you want to join me in the library?”

She looked at him suspiciously. “Who will you be with?” She, James, and Roxanne might be discriminating about their company, but you could never tell what kind of people Albus would be working with.

He rolled his eyes at her. “You know, if you just gave people half a chance—”

That meant Slytherins. “See, this is why I ask.”

“Your mother would be very disappointed in you.” The expression on his face said that her mother was not the only one.

She groaned. She hated it when he tried to guilt her. It usually worked. “Just tell me who.”

“Scorpius.”

Of course it was. Of all of Albus’s Slytherin friends, Scorpius Malfoy was by far her least favorite. He always seemed to manage to find a way to get under her skin. At this point, she was pretty sure he did it on purpose. “Al, I’m really not in the mood to—”

“Rose, you can be such a bigot. You know, not everyone in Slytherin—”

She put her fingers in her ears. “I can’t hear you.” She swung her legs over the bench and walked away. “Bye!”

When she glanced back, he'd turned his attention back to his plate. His red hair drooped down and hid some of his expression, but his body language as he pushed a slice of pie across his plate was clear. She felt a stab of guilt.

The guilt only intensified as she took a much-needed bath to wash the sweat and dirt off. By the time she'd finished and gathered up the schoolwork she needed to get done, she was seriously considering going to meet him, however much she disliked his friend.

She sighed and went back down the steps to the common room. James and Roxanne were sitting near the fire; when they saw her, they waved her over, and she collapsed into one of the armchairs.

“Albus off with his other friends?” James asked.

Rose wrinkled her nose as she tried to braid her wet hair. It wasn’t working very well; she would forever be envious of Roxanne, who - when she wasn’t wearing her hair in dozens of small braids, anyway - could always manage to reach back and braid her kinky curls neatly and quickly. “Yeah… I just don’t get it. I feel bad, but I just don’t get it.”

Roxanne watched her struggle for a minute and then rolled her eyes. “Come here,” she said, patting the couch. James scooted over to give her room, and Rose said down with her back to Roxanne, who took hold of her hair and began to separate it into three parts.

“I guess he’s just a better person than some of us,” Roxanne said as she began to twist the parts together. James made a face, and she added, “Oh, come on, James, you know it’s true.” She wound a hair tie around the end of what was probably a perfect braid. “Feel okay?” Rose shook her head experimentally nodded. “You’re done, then.”

Rose fell back into the couch. The guilt was becoming overwhelming. “I should probably go meet him. He looked really hurt at dinner when I basically blew him off.”

James sighed, his distaste for Slytherins warring with brotherly instincts. “Maybe you’d better, then. Who’s he with, do you know?”

“Yeah.” Rose wrinkled her nose. “Scorpius Malfoy.”

James and Roxanne both winced. “Well, on your own head be it,” Roxanne said.

“Yeah, thanks for taking one for the team,” called James after her as she left.

She climbed out of the portrait hole and set off toward the library. Why did Albus have to be such an open-minded person? It must have been his father’s influence, which had flown right over James’ head—just as her mother’s had flown right over hers.

When she got to the library, she spotted Albus over in a corner with Scorpius Malfoy. Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone else there—Al had several Slytherin friends, and she knew that some of them really didn’t like her. Something to do with beating them at Quidditch, probably.

Not that she thought Scorpius liked her. Every interaction they’d had indicated that he didn’t. But at least it was only one person to put up with for her cousin’s sake.

She dropped her books next to Albus and slid into the chair. He and Scorpius both started. When they saw her, their reactions were polar opposites: Albus’s face lit up, where Scorpius looked like he was trying to keep a sneer off his face and not having much luck.

“Yeah, well, I thought I’d get out of the common room for a bit. James and Roxanne will probably be causing some kind of commotion at some point anyway.” She looked at Albus and smiled sheepishly.

He smiled back. “Thanks.”

Rose looked across the table at Scorpius, who by that time had managed to force his expression into something verging on vaguely polite. “Hello.”

He continued to stare for a minute before forcing a smile onto his face, his gaze lingering on her hair. Rose resisted the urge to check it - she knew he was just being unpleasant. “Hey,” he finally said.

Rose pulled out her Herbology homework. She always got her work done, even if it meant not sleeping, but on the rare occasions she did a half-assed job on any of it, she made sure it wasn’t Herbology. It was one of her favorite subjects, and Neville was definitely her favorite professor. She refused to let him down.

“Oh, is that Herbology?” asked Albus. “I was having trouble on that, actually. I feel like I missed something about Fanged Geraniums last class, because I have no idea what it has in common with Devil’s Snare. Other than that they’re both plants and they both attack people, I mean.”

Scorpius sighed and rested his head in his hand. His blond hair framed his grey eyes perfectly, making them stand out even more than usual. Not for the first time, Rose wished he wasn’t so damn nice to look at - it was utterly wasted on him. “I hate Herbology. I wish I wasn’t looking at another three years of it.”

Rose bristled. “Professor Longbottom is an excellent teacher,” she snapped. “And if you hate it so much, why don’t you drop it after this year?”

“He’s a fine professor,” Scorpius said, looking a little taken aback. “It’s just a dumb subject.” He ignored her question, and she didn’t push it - she wasn’t really that interested in the answer. “And I’m _never_ going to forgive you for convincing me to take Care of Magical Creatures,” he said to Albus.

Albus grinned. “Being outside is good for you.” Rose knew that it had been a point of friendly contention between the two for most of their friendship; even in the winter, Albus usually sported at least a slight tan, where she didn’t think she’d ever seen Scorpius with any tan at all - from what she’d seen, he remained fair-skinned even at the height of summer.

“Great,” Scorpius shot back. “So find me a girlfriend and I’ll take long, romantic walks outside with her.” Rose bit her lip to hold back a giggle, and he added, “Or hey, we could cut even out the middleman - why don’t _you_ take long, romantic walks with me if you think I need to spend more outside, Al?”

Rose couldn’t hold back _that_ snort of laughter. Scorpius glanced at her, but before she could even start to decipher his expression, her cousin said, “Sorry, Scorpius - I just don’t really see you that way.”

Scorpius sighed dramatically. “Figures. What if they’re bromantic walks?”

Rose tried to fight back another laugh - it was bad enough that she was sitting here grinning at something _Scorpius Malfoy_ was saying. She didn’t want him to think that she found him genuinely funny. Both boys laughed, and she realized that she’d missed her cousin’s response.

Shaking her head to clear it, she helped Albus with the Herbology question before returning to her own work. After another half hour, Albus got up. “I’m going to go get something from the kitchens. Do either of you want anything?”

Rose glared at her cousin, hoping that he’d read her mind and _not_ leave her alone with his exceedingly annoying friend.

Either he didn’t get the message or he chose to ignore it, because when neither she nor Scorpius made any requests, he turned and left. Rose looked resolutely back down at her schoolwork, steeling herself for the unpleasantness she knew had to be coming.

“You can admit it,” Scorpius said. “You think I’m funny.”

She kept her eyes on her parchment. “No,” she said through clenched teeth. “I don’t.”

He laughed at her. “Whatever you say, Red.”

She snapped her head up, furious. “My name is _Rose.”_

“Whatever you say, _Rose.”_ He pretended to consider it for a minute. “I think I’m going to call you Red, though.”

“Why?” She could feel her ears starting to burn, and she wasn’t at all sure that the braid hid them adequately, though it was fairly loose.

He leaned back in his chair and stretched. “Because you always call me ‘Malfoy,’ but it’s not like I can call you ‘Weasley’ - there are too many of you. Besides, it’s fun to tease you. You walk around like you own this school - it’s good for you to remember that not everyone worships you. Your ears are red, by the way.”

“I try not to call you anything, actually - I try to pretend that you don’t exist, you know.”

“Sure, and I’m attentive in History of Magic.”

She glared at him. “If I wasn’t afraid of hurting Al’s feelings, I’d get up and leave right now.”

“Aren’t Gryffindors supposed to be brave? And yet here you are, letting fear take over.”

“It’s not the same thing, and you know it.” She was now imagining dumping his ink well all over his stupid blond hair. “At least my house doesn’t pride itself on being heartless and scheming.”

“It’s actually ruthless,” he corrected, a glint in his grey eyes. Rose had always rather liked grey eyes in particular, and his were utterly ruined on him. “And we’re just ruthless to get what we want.”

Something about _that_ delivery made her squirm uncomfortably in her chair, though she couldn’t imagine what Scorpius Malfoy could want that would seriously affect her.

When she didn’t respond, he flashed another smile at her and went back to his work. After staring at him for another second or two, wondering how on earth anyone could be so unpleasant, she did the same. When Albus returned, they were both completely absorbed in work, and neither of them spoke to him when he sat down. Rose could see Albus looking from her to Malfoy for a moment before pulling out his Transfiguration homework.

When they left the library at closing, Rose felt that she’d at least been fairly productive, even if dealing with Scorpius had gotten her blood boiling.

When they parted with him at the stairs, Albus called, “See you in Divination, Scorpius!”

“Can’t wait,” came the dry answer, several steps below. “Later, Al. I’ll see you around, Red.”

Albus looked at her. “Red?”

She shook her head and said through gritted teeth, “Ask him.”

“Oh, did you get nasty at each other when I went to the kitchens? I was hoping you wouldn’t.” Rose loved her cousin dearly, but sometimes he really was optimistic to the point of foolishness.

“He started it. Why is he your friend again?”

Albus shrugged. “I dunno. I like him. He’s funny.”

Scorpius’s mention of long, bromantic walks came back to her, and she had to fight the urge to laugh again. She supposed he _was_ funny, once in awhile… though he was also an enormous git all the time, so funny once in awhile didn’t really make up for that.

“Whatever you say.”

“Thanks for coming and making the effort, anyway.”

“Was it really that important to you?”

“Well, yeah.”” He sighed. “Look, Rosie, you’re a terrific person. It’s just nice when you make an effort to get to know my friends who aren’t already your friends. Or at least don’t actively avoid me just because I’m with them.”

She bit her lip. There was altogether too much sense in this for her to argue with. “If it means that much to you, I’ll make more of an effort. Even if it just means sitting there ignoring them.”

“That’s all I’m asking,” he said. He put his arm around her shoulder and ruffled her hair. She wrinkled her nose - the Potter boys shared that particularly annoying habit. “Thank you.”

“It’s only because you’re my favourite cousin,” she told him.

“I’m telling James.”

“Oh, shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated, but most importantly, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :)


	2. Plausible Deniability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Scorpius is on the receiving end of an unpleasant jinx.
> 
> _Rose vowed not to complain about when James scheduled Quidditch practice for the next month._

  
_Thanks to heartfelt @ the-dark-arts.net for the amazing CI!_

  


When Rose and Albus got back to the Common Room, he made a beeline for the stairs to the boy’s dormitory, waving goodnight over his shoulder. She called “Night!” after him and went over to James and Roxanne, who’d put homework aside and were playing a match of exploding snap at a table in the corner.

Rose slumped into the chair beside Roxanne and let her head fall hard against the table.

They both looked up. “That bad?” asked James. Roxanne gathered up the cards, her deft fingers clearing the table in a matter of seconds.

“Worse.” Rose rested her elbows on the table and sunk her fingers into her hair. “How does anyone get to be quite that unpleasant?”

James looked around before responding. “Albus here?”

“No, he went up to bed.” Rose let out a sigh. “Thankfully. I’m making an effort, but Merlin, I can think of _poisons_ that would be more pleasant than Scorpius Malfoy.” She thought for a moment about what her cousins - who were both very enthusiastic Gryffindors - would be most disgusted by. “He called me a _coward.”_

James and Roxanne did not disappoint her. “Jerk,” they said at the same time, and each cast a threatening glance toward the portrait hole.

“And he basically said that I was a conceited brat.” She wrinkled her nose. “He is _so_ unpleasant. Why does Albus even like him?”

Roxanne put an arm around Rose’s shoulder. “Look, Rosie, if you think it’s warranted, we’d be happy to go around and show him who’s boss.”

“We could charm his stupid hair some ridiculous colour,” James suggested, clearly getting into the spirit. “Orange, maybe?”

“How about red?” Roxanne grinned. “You know, for Gryffindor.”

Rose giggled. “I like that. He kept calling me ‘Red.’” She pulled her braid over her shoulder and fingered it. “I _like_ my hair.”

“Oh, he’s just trying to get a rise out of you. Don’t worry, we’ll show him.”

“Don’t tell Albus,” Rose said quickly.

“Do you think that we’re stupid?” James asked. “I don’t want him writing home that I’m being a jerk to his friend. I don’t need _another_ howler.”

James had gotten many howlers over the course of his schooling. The year before, he and Roxanne had really gotten into the spirit of Halloween, hexing pumpkins in the Great Hall to shoot off sparks at odd intervals and charming suits of armor in very trafficked areas to randomly shout “Boo!” The caretaker had eventually caught them trying to charm the lights in the Potions classroom to be come out orange. They’d both gotten three detentions, and James’s parents had sent him a howler, in which his mother yelled that it was all well and good to fool around but that if he had the time to do that then when he took his O.W.L.s at the end of the year he’d better not fail any of them.

James maintained that it had totally been worth it.

Rose got up. “I should get to bed,” she told them.

They waved goodnight, and put their heads together, clearly thinking of other ways to make Scorpius miserable. She smiled. That would teach him to mess with the Weasley clan.

As she changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed, she realised that this would probably only add fire to his accusation that she walked around like she owned the school.

That would be a problem… if she cared what he thought. Thankfully, she didn’t.

When Rose came down the stairs and entered the Gryffindor common room the next morning, she was slightly surprised to see Roxanne sitting alone at one of the tables reading a book. She made her way over and let her bag slip onto the chair across from her cousin. “What, are you not hungry?”

Roxanne looked up. “Starving, actually. But I was waiting for you.” She shoved the book she’d been reading into her bag and stood up.

Rose slung her bag back over her shoulder and followed her cousin through the portrait hole. “Why?”

Her teeth flashed in a sharp contrast to her dark skin. “We need to talk business.” She was in her element and looked positively _gleeful._ Rose felt an answering smile spreading across her own face as they climbed out of the portrait hole - Roxanne’s enthusiasm tended to be infectious. “Where does that git have classes today?”

Rose thought as they padded down the corridor. “We’ve got Care of Magical Creatures right after you, and History of Magic with the Slytherins at the end of the day.”

Roxanne shook her head. “No, that won’t work,” she said as they began descending the stairs. “We’ve got double Charms last, and I don’t fancy us trying to skip out on Harding. She’d probably put us in detention for weeks. What’s he got before Care of Magical Creatures?” She skipped the last couple steps and landed at the bottom of the staircase with a resounding thud.

Rose thought for a moment. “Charms, I think.” 

Roxanne considered that for a minute. “Okay, _that_ has promise.” She rubbed her hands together. “Oh, this is going to be _fun.”_

When they entered the Great Hall a few minutes later, Roxanne circled around the table to sit down in the empty space next to James while Tyler Jordan and Marion Thomas moved over to make room for Rose.

“Good news,” James said cheerfully. “Extra Quidditch practice tonight. It’s supposed to rain, and I want us to practice playing in adverse conditions more than we did last year.”

Rose groaned. Sometimes James had a very interesting definition of the phrase ‘good news.’ “Oh, James, but Mondays are terrible for me. I’ve got Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures...”

“Oh, you mean that Mondays are physically exhausting.”

“Yes,” she said crossly, grabbing several pieces of toast off one of the serving platters. “That’s exactly what I mean.” She had yet to escape a Monday without some kind of bite or bruise or other injury. Granted, they hadn’t had very many Mondays yet, but even so, it was a pattern that she was less than thrilled with.

He shrugged. “Sorry, Rose. Grin and bear it. I have faith in you.” He reached for the bowl of fruit to pull out a pear.

“If it makes you feel any better, we’ve got Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, and Charms today too,” said Roxanne, picking up the bacon on her plate. “We’ll all be falling off our brooms.”

“Hey, Roxanne, has your father invented any new snackboxes James hasn’t heard of yet?” asked Tyler. She shook her head and continued to shovel food into her mouth. “Too bad.” He looked momentarily crestfallen, but then he brightened. “We could all just boycott practice. He can’t get mad at all of us.”

“Watch me,” James said as he poured himself some juice. He was clearly not taking his team’s whining very seriously, since he turned his attention to Rose. “Got back your first homework ‘graded to O.W.L. standard’ yet?”

She grimaced. “Yeah. I only got an A in arithmancy.” Rose was rather worried about that. Arithmancy had always been one of her favorite subjects, and hearing her cousins Louis and Lucy talk about it had made her excited to continue on with it at N.E.W.T. level. At this rate, though, she wouldn’t have the grades to do so.

Marion shook her head, her thick hair shining to the bright lights hovering along the ceiling in the Great Hall. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll bring it up. I got an A on my first arithmancy assignment last year, and when the O.W.L. results came this summer, I’d gotten an E. You’ll be fine, don’t worry. Nobody gets better than an A their first assignment.”

That made Rose feel a little better, at least.

Roxanne and James had their heads together and were conversing quietly. Rose heard James mutter, “So you think we should just duck out of Woodmore’s class a few minutes early?”

“Yeah, she won’t mind.”

He was probably right. Professor Woodmore had only been teaching at Hogwarts for a few years, and as a former Gryffindor, any mention of the duties of Gryffindor Quidditch team tended to result in less homework or early class dismissals.

Rose cleared her throat. “Speaking of O.W.L.s, how many N.E.W.T.s did you all end up signing up for?”

“Why, Rosie, trying to figure out how many you can aim for?” Rose shrugged, and Roxanne’s face broke into a smile. “You’ve got time to figure it out later.” When Rose opened her mouth, Roxanne said smoothly, “But I signed up for seven.”

“The rest of us signed up for four or five,” Tyler cut in. “Because we’re, you know, _sane.”_

“I dropped Potions,” James said lazily, pushing his dark hair back from his eyes. He’d woken up too recently to have thoroughly made it messy yet, but Rose was sure it would be by the time she saw him next. “I didn’t want to be an Auror anyway. I heard that dark creatures are where it’s at these days.”

“Heard from where?” Marion asked.

“Somewhere,” James said vaguely, and Rose bit her lip to keep from smiling. She knew exactly where he’d heard that; their cousin Victoire was so enthusiastic about her job that she sometimes said more than she really should.

Roxanne looked around. The Great Hall was starting to empty. “I guess we’d better get down to class, especially if we want to warn her we’re leaving a little early. Stick to Albus until you get there, then he can’t suspect you.”

The five of them got up. The sixth years headed for the door, and Rose went down the table to meet up with Albus and her other friends among the fifth-years. She reached them just as they were all getting up to head to their first class of the day.

“Did James really schedule another practice for tonight?” asked Albus as she fell into step with them.

She nodded, and Damien Bell, a fellow fifth year, commented, “Looks like it’s going to rain. That’ll be fun to fly in.”

Rose looked up at the grey clouds streaming across the ceiling of the Great Hall and barely managed to keep herself from sighing. “Oh, he knows.”

An hour and a half later saw the fifth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws staggering out of greenhouse five. Professor Longbottom had handed back their first homework during class, and to Rose’s relief, she’d gotten an E on it. She wasn’t as optimistic about the homework she’d handed in, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now.

On the bright side, she didn’t have a black eye - not yet, anyway. On the downside, she was sporting several bites from the fanged geranium, one of which was on her bicep, which she knew from experience would make passing the Quaffle more difficult - and more painful.

At least Longbottom was used to students swearing in his class. He hadn’t batted an eye when she’d cursed loudly at the last bite, though several other students had. Albus saw her rubbing the bite mournfully through her sweater and said, “That’s going to make Quidditch later painful, isn’t it?”

“Yep.”

“There’s no way James will take that as an excuse.”

“Nope.” Not that she really thought he should - he was right, they _did_ need practice playing in the rain. She shook herself, and remembered that with any luck, Malfoy would be showing up to Care of Magical Creatures after encountering whatever prank James and Roxanne decided to pull.

That cheered her up significantly. That would teach him what happened when he called her a coward.

She turned to Albus. “So, how did you do on the homework?”

“An A. That’s pretty good, right? For the first homework?”

“Yeah, definitely!” She related what Marion had told her over breakfast to him, and he looked a little more cheerful.

They arrived at Care of Magical Creatures a few minutes early and bumped into most of the sixth years, who were still packing up, including Marion. After exchanging a quick hello with her and another sixth year Gryffindor named Bridget Hopkins, Rose and Albus settled down on the grass.

“Wonder where James and Roxanne were,” he commented. When Rose looked at him, she thought he looked a little flushed, though she couldn’t think of any reason why he would be.

Rose shrugged. “I think James said something at breakfast about reserving the pitch for practice this week.”

“Ah.” Her cousin’s eyes widened when he caught sight of something behind her. _“Scorpius?”_

She turned around, and let out a loud giggle before she could help herself. Scorpius was coming toward them, and he looked distinctly irritated. The reason was immediately apparent: his hair, usually a very pale blond, was bright red.

Rose vowed not to complain about when James scheduled Quidditch practice for the next month.

“Yeah. I know.” Scorpius stopped in front of them and crossed his arms.

Albus shook his head, clearly struggling to find words. “What happened? When did that happen?”

“Well, I didn’t do it to myself,” Scorpius snapped. “I was leaving charms with Noah, and suddenly he started laughing.” He looked at Rose. “Do you have any idea what happened, _Red?”_

She shook her head, a broad smile still on her face. Albus gave her a sharp look, and then leaned closer and began peering at his friend’s hair.

Rose really wished she had a camera with her.

Al yanked on a lock of hair, and Scorpius jumped back. “Ow! It _is_ still my hair, damnit!”

Albus frowned and continued poking at his friend’s hair. “Sorry. Somebody must have jinxed you.”

“No, really?” Scorpius snapped. “I can’t think of anyone who’d want to do that.”

Albus shot another glance at Rose, who’d stopped making any effort to control her giggles. She shook her head. “It wasn’t me, honest.”

“No, I guess it wasn’t, not if it was after Charms this morning.” Albus shook his head. “Well, I’m sure it’ll fade out… er… eventually.”

“Great. Until then, I can walk around looking a long lost Weasley cousin.”

“Hey, our hair is much nicer than that,” said Rose. _“You_ look like you’ve had a bad encounter with your mum’s potions.’”

He shot her a withering glance and stalked off. Albus followed him, giving her a suspicious look.

“Really, Rose?” someone said softly, and Rose looked around. Natalia came to a stop next to her. Though she was managing to keep a reasonably somber look on her face, her dark eyes were glittering with mirth.

“How was Charms?” Rose asked brightly. Rather than answer, Natalia kept her gaze fixed on her friend. “Hey, it wasn’t me. I swear. I was in Herbology, and then I was here. Ask Al.”

Natalia shook her head and let the serious expression go; a glance over at Scorpius, whose hair was now being examined closely by both Albus and Damien, had sparked a fit of giggles. “So you’ve got an alibi and everything. How convenient.”

Rose smirked. “Ask me no secrets, I’ll tell you no lies.”

“He’s not _that_ bad, you know.”

“If you say so,” Rose replied, shrugging. “But that’s neither here nor there, because I didn’t do it.”

“Didn’t do what?” asked Colleen. She and her brother Daniel, who was in Hufflepuff, were walking toward them. She stopped short. “Oh, my-”

Alex, who was just behind them, saw Scorpius’s hair and let out a loud snort. “Did you do that?” he asked Rose. Scorpius’s scowl deepened.

“I was just saying that I didn’t!” Rose protested. “He just told Al it happened on the way here from Charms, and I’ve been in Herbology with you and I came straight here, you know I did.”

Alex gave her a look of deepest skepticism. “So you have no idea who did it?”

“None at all,” Rose lied. Woodmore called the class to order, and she turned her attention to the professor.

“Liar,” murmured Natalia, softly enough so that no one else could hear her.

“Maybe a little,” Rose whispered back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scorpius studying her closely.

She gave him an innocent smile and looked away, fighting the urge to giggle. She had no idea how she was going to pay attention in History of Magic later, which was going to be far more dull than this.

After the lesson, which had ended up being about bowtruckles, she made a show of rummaging through her bag for something and waved their friends ahead. “I’ll catch up with you.” Natalia stood next to her until she straightened and slung her bag onto her shoulder, and they both waved goodbye to Professor Woodmore.

“Tell me the truth,” Natalia said, fixing her with a look. “I know you all too well for that.”

Rose smiled. “Okay, yeah, it was James and Roxanne.”

“But you all have plausible deniability?”

“Yep.”

Natalia shook her head. “He really _isn’t_ that bad, you know.” Before Rose could respond, she said, “Come on, let’s get some lunch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm planning to update this on Fridays and Tuesdays, if people are interested in checking back. :) Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


	3. Eavesdropping in the Corridor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose eavesdrops on an uncomfortable conversation between Albus and Scorpius.
> 
> _"I’m not touching any of your _many_ issues with Rose with a ten foot pole.”_

_Thank you to clarity. @ the-dark-arts.net for the wonderful CI!_

__

Rose was on her way to Ancient Runes later that day when she heard a familiar voice. She peered around the corner and saw Albus and Scorpius walking toward her. She hurried past the roped off section of swamp in the corridor and ducked behind a portrait to the secret passage concealed by it, crossing her fingers that they’d stop near it.

They did. Her grandmother had always said that eavesdroppers never heard anything they wanted to hear, but she didn’t care what she heard, so surely _that_ wouldn’t hold true. She was dying of curiosity about Scorpius thought of his hair, and judging from his agitated tone, he was definitely talking about it.

“Look, I know you said she was with you the whole morning,” Scorpius was saying, “but seriously, do you really believe that she didn’t have _anything_ to do with it?”

Albus sighed. “Honestly? No. I don’t really believe that. But she _was_ with me, so unless someone admits it, she has what she loves to call ‘plausible deniability.’ And you don’t _know_ that it was her.”

“Oh, please. She’s pretty much the only one in this school I can think of who has a serious grudge against me - her, your brother, and your cousin, anyway. Of course it was her.”

Albus sighed. “You _really_ don’t like her, do you?”

“Not at all,” Scorpius admitted after a moment. “Sorry.”

“Why? She’s one of my favorite people in the world —not that that’s a reason for _you_ to like her, I suppose, but she’s a very nice person, really.”

There was a moment of silence, and Scorpius said, “Look. You’re one of my best friends. I don’t want to offend you.”

“But?”

“But, well…” he paused again. “Look, some of your family are perfectly nice, but…”

“What?” Rose heard a thud as Albus’s bag hit the ground. “Just spit it out. There’s no one around.”

Scorpius sighed. “Look, it’s just… honestly? Her, your brother, Roxanne - they’re arrogant, self-satisfied prats.”

“I know it looks that way, but—”

Scorpius cut him off. “Did you want me to answer?”

Albus checked himself. “Go ahead. Am I allowed to disagree afterward?”

“Sure.” Scorpius sighed again, started to say something, paused, and started again. Rose could practically feel the awkwardness of the situation oozing through the tapestry. “Damn, Al. I know they’re family, I know you have to love them, but your brother? Roxanne? Rose? They all strut around this school like they own it - along with Tyler Jordan, I guess, but I never have to see him, so I don’t particularly care. They seem to think that being smart and good at sports makes them God’s gift to the school. To the _world.”_

“Rose isn’t really part of that group, though.” Rose rolled her eyes. She wasn’t sure who Albus thought he was fooling with that. Of course she was. “She’s on the team with them and all, sure, but…”

“Oh, don’t give me that,” snapped Scorpius. “She might be one of your best friends, but she spends a hell of a lot of time with them, too. Are you really telling me that she doesn’t?”

Al sighed. “No, I’m not.”

“Who’s her favorite cousin, apart from you?” Scorpius pressed.

“James,” Albus admitted after a moment of hesitation.

“And it’s not just Quidditch. She seems to be with them whenever you’re off with your friends who she doesn’t approve of, which is everyone who’s not in Gryffindor—”

Rose scowled as Albus interrupted. “That’s not really fair. She’s got a lot of friends in Hufflepuff, too.” Scorpius gave a disgusted snort, and Albus stopped himself again. “Go on,” he said, clearly resigned to hearing Scorpius out.

“Look. I don’t like them. I just don’t. They’re all great Quidditch players. Okay, we get that. They’ve been on the team for years. In that time, we’ve all kind of noticed that they’re good players.” Scorpius’s voice was rising again. “That doesn’t mean they have to swagger all over the school like they own it.”

He must have looked at Albus, because her cousin sighed and said, “Keep going.”

“They’re all…” he made a disgusted noise. “Well, for all the pranks they pull, and despite all the Quidditch practices they have, they’re all still at the top of their classes, and none of them have easy courseloads. How many N.E.W.T.s are they each taking? Six? Seven?”

“Rose isn’t taking any, yet,” Albus said. Rose felt that as a defense, this was lacking, especially since Scorpius was definitely overestimating all of their abilities except _maybe_ Roxanne’s. 

“Yeah, well, she’ll get all O’s on her O.W.L.s, and next year she’ll be doing the same thing.” She could hear Scorpius slide down against the wall, and heard Albus sit next to him. She looked at her watch. Class started in a few minutes, and there was no way she was going to make it on time unless she left right now.

She didn’t move. This was far too interesting.

“I don’t know. I don’t like any of them. Maybe the fact that I actually have to see her more often and deal with her beating me in almost every subject makes me like her even less. She’s awful, though.” Albus didn’t say anything. She was starting to get distinctly annoyed with his lack of defense when she heard Scorpius say, “You can stop shutting up, now.”

“Are you sure that’s it?”

Scorpius sighed again, and she could hear him shift a little. “No. I’m sure that’s not it. It’s just harder to put the rest of it into words.”

“You think she’s hot, don’t you.” Despite the wording, Rose could tell it wasn’t really a question. She winced. The situation had suddenly and unexpectedly taken a turn for horribly awkward, and awkward situations made her feel embarrassed even if she was just observing them.

There was another pause, and Scorpius said, sounding strained, “Was it that obvious?”

“This summer? A bit, yes.”

Rose felt her face getting warm. When her mother and father had gone to Brazil that summer, they’d left her and her brother with the Potters. James had been gone for most of the time she was there, so it was a relatively subdued stay, and she’d had a perfectly good time even with Scorpius visiting at the same time. For once they’d managed to mostly ignore each other - or, rather, she’d managed to ignore him. She had assumed he was likewise ignoring her, but apparently, that had not been the case. She squirmed uncomfortably; she hadn’t anticipated the conversation taking this turn, though there was definitely no way she was leaving now.

“Why didn’t you say something?”

Albus laughed. “Say what? ‘Hey, Scorpius, I thought you hated Rose, but now you can’t seem to concentrate on a word I say because you’re too busy staring at her.’ Would you have even admitted it?”

“Probably not,” Scorpius admitted. “I wasn’t that bad, was I?

“No, you weren’t. I thought I was imagining it for the first few days.”

“What convinced you that you weren’t?”

“I kept having to repeat myself.” Rose could tell that her cousin was barely containing his laughter.

“Sorry.” To her surprise, Scorpius did actually sound sorry. She supposed she shouldn’t be; at least as far as she’d observed, he wasn’t a bad friend. Albus certainly seemed to like him, for reasons Rose was sure she would never understand.

“It was a little irritating,” Albus said after a moment. “But I figured it was probably much worse for you than it was for me.”

Scorpius groaned. “Yes. Yes it was. I was taking a lot of really cold showers, but they didn’t actually help much.” Albus cleared his throat, and Scorpius immediately switched gears - he seemed to realize that he’d come dangerously close to a very uncomfortable line. “I don’t have any desire to be _with_ her, you know,” he said. “She opens her mouth and I want to punch her.”

“Please don’t,” said Albus. “She is my favourite cousin. I’d have to punch you back.”

“Honestly, that worries me less than what she’d do.” Despite the discomfort she was feeling from the conversation as a whole at this point, Rose found herself smirking at that.

“With good reason. Can I say what I’m thinking now?” Al asked. Scorpius must have nodded, because he continued. “Look. I’m not touching any of your _many_ issues with Rose with a ten foot pole.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Scorpius snapped. “I don’t have—”

“Oh, shut up,” Albus said tiredly. “Yes, you do. I don’t know why, but yes, you do.” Rose was expecting Scorpius to fight back, and was rather surprised when he didn’t say anything and let Albus continue. “Look, I’m not saying that what you’re saying about them isn’t true. I just think that you’re seeing them in the worst possible light. I know my brother. He can be arrogant, yes, but he’s also really a fundamentally good person. Mostly, he’s just fooling around. Roxanne’s kind of the same way. I don’t think either of them takes very much very seriously.”

He paused, and Scorpius prompted him. “And Rose?”

Albus sighed. “Rosie is… look, honestly? She can be pretty judgmental, and she’s got a bit of a temper, and she can be a little arrogant and, okay, even vindictive sometimes, but she really is a fun person to be around.” Rose was just starting to feel rather irritated at this lackluster defense when Albus added, “And she’s a really good person. Like I said, she’s one of my favorite people in the world.”

Rose’s irritation vanished, and she was possessed with the sudden urge to hug her cousin.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Scorpius said skeptically, and she could hear him get up. He laughed. “It’s probably better for us all if I don’t see that side of her. If it even exists.”

Albus got up, too. “Yeah, well. I’m so tempted to skive off Divination, we’re going to be late, anyway.”

“Why did we let Noah convince us to take this stupid subject, again?” Scorpius asked, and she could hear them walking away. “We should go, though.”

Albus gave a very unenthusiastic, “I guess,” and their voices faded away.

Rose groaned. If they were going to be late, she definitely was. She ran to class, murmuring an apology when she walked in several minutes late. She pushed the conversation she’d heard out of her mind; she needed to concentrate on class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Scorpius.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! As always, comments/kudos are greatly appreciated. ♥
> 
> \- Branwen


	4. Conversations with the Potter Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose discusses Scorpius with James and Albus in very different contexts.
> 
> _"He wants to do_ what?"

  
_Thank you so much to clarity @ the-dark-arts.net for the wonderful CI!_

  


She’d nearly managed to forget the conversation she’d overheard by the time she entered History of Magic almost two hours later, but seeing Scorpius with his bright red hair and Albus sitting in the back of the room playing hangman brought it back. She could feel her ears go red.

Scorpius looked up and called, “Hey, Red! When’s our next family reunion?”

Several people laughed. Rose shot him a glare and sat down in the front row. ‘Was it that obvious?’ ran through her head again, and she felt her face getting warm. She was very glad that class was starting and that Professor Binns was clearly too detached from the world to notice.

Very soon, she was too detached to feel much of anything. Nothing could make this class anything but dull, and especially when she had it at the end of the day like this, Binns had a talent for making her want to go to sleep. Today even goblin rebellions seemed dull, and she could usually manage to pay some attention to them. Rose made a mental note to ask Lucy for her old notes.

When class had finally ended, she waited for Albus at the door. “I should get some work done before dinner and practice. Want to join me?”

Albus looked at Scorpius. “We’re actually -”

Scorpius cut him off. “We’re heading toward the library right now, actually. If you want to join us, I’ll try _really_ hard to behave myself.”

An invitation from Scorpius was so unexpected that it took Rose a moment to process what he’d said. “Next time?”

Albus shrugged. “Sure. I’ll talk to you at dinner.” They headed off, and Rose returned to the Gryffindor Common Room. Her head was starting to hurt, which was never a good sign, particularly when she had so much work to do.

After half an hour of staring at her Care of Magical Creatures Assignment and managing two poorly crafted sentences that she knew she’d just have to redo, she thrust the paper away and let her head fall onto the table. Scorpius Malfoy was the _worst._

“Hey.” James sat down across from her.

She glanced up and let her head fall back onto the table with a thud. Her red hair pooled around her. “Hi.”

“Rose, what’s wrong?” He sounded genuinely concerned, and after a moment, she felt his hand on her elbow. “What happened?”

“I overheard something today that - that maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I shouldn’t talk about it. I don’t know.”

She glanced up at him. Now he looked downright alarmed. “Rosie, the Common Room is going to start filling up soon. Do you want to go upstairs? You look a little…” He trailed off.

“I guess. Yeah. Will anyone be up there?”

He shrugged. “Don’t think so. If they are, I’ll kick them out.” He got up and steered her toward the stairs to the boys’ dormitory. Thankfully, there was no one in the room he shared with the other sixth year boys, and Rose collapsed onto James’s bed. He sat cross-legged next to her and squeezed her shoulder. “What happened?”

“So I’m pretty sure Scorpius Malfoy wants to sleep with me.”

It sounded so ludicrous once she’d said it out loud.

James was quiet for a long moment. She turned her head to look at him. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him look so taken aback. “He wants to do _what?”_

“I heard him talking to Albus today. Remember how I told you that we’d mostly ignored each other this summer, while you were off in France with Roxanne and Dominique?” He nodded. “Well, apparently he wasn’t really ignoring me. He wasn’t fighting with me because he was so distracted with staring at me that he wasn’t even processing what _Albus_ said half the time. And - er - apparently he was taking a lot of cold showers. His words.” She buried her head in James’s pillow again.

He whistled softly. “Well. That’s… certainly something. I take it this wasn’t a conversation they know you overheard?”

Rose shook her head. “And then I saw them in History of Magic and I could barely even _look_ at him. It’s just… it feels _weird_ to talk to him when I know that he’s… you know.”

“Thinking about you at night when he’s all alone?”

She hit him. “James!”

“Sorry.” He patted her shoulder. “I don’t mean to make light of it. It’s just - never mind. Well, how do _you_ feel about that… revelation?”

“I don’t really know. It just feels _weird._ Part of me feels like I should back way off so I don’t give him ideas - that just seems _mean._ But part of me is - well…”

“Intrigued?” James supplied. “Seeing the sweet, sweet window of opportunity?”

Rose felt her cheeks get red. “It just might be fun to, you know. Tease him a little. I mean, he’s been so unpleasant this year - I _try_ to ignore him, usually, but he always seems to be trying to pick a fight. I don’t get it - how can you want to sleep with someone you hate?”

James sighed. “Move over a little?” She shifted over, and he leaned against the headboard of his bed. “I don’t know. Maybe some people can, but I don’t think Scorpius Malfoy is one of them.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t like him, but other than you, he’s been my brother’s best friend since your first year. Al - he loves that guy. I don’t really get it, but he does. In the world according to Albus, you and Scorpius Malfoy are literally the two best people aside from his immediate family on the planet.”

She looked up at him. To her surprise, James looked thoughtful, not mischevious - he seemed to actually be telling the truth. _“Seriously?”_

“Yeah. That’s why he’s been trying to push you guys to be civil to each other - he’d love being able to hang out with both of you, and he thinks you’d probably get along if you really tried. I don’t know if that’s actually true, but you know Albus - always the optimist.”

“Oh.” Rose sighed. “Well, I guess Scorpius threw a wrench in that by wanting to sleep with me in the first place, and then _I_ threw a wrench in it by overhearing it.” She hesitated. “So you don’t think he does hate me?”

“Not really. I mean, I’ve overheard him and Albus talking about girls enough over the holidays that I’m pretty sure he’s not that type. I’m not saying he _likes_ you, but… I mean, if you really, genuinely dislike someone, you find things to dislike about them and they get to be ugly pretty fast. And even if not - hell, if I really hated a girl that much and still found her attractive anyway, I would be avoiding her like the plague. But he doesn’t seem to be doing that.”

“No. He isn’t. He actually invited me to study with them in the library after History of Magic - he promised to try to behave himself.”

She glanced up at her cousin to see his reaction. His eyebrows had shot up. “Well. Isn’t _that_ interesting?”

“Interesting how?”

“If he really does hate you, why on earth would he do that? Friendship only takes you so far, and I doubt Albus would blame him for wanting to avoid you after they had _that_ conversation.”

Rose rolled onto her back and stared up at the canopy of his four poster bed. “Huh. That is - er - interesting.” She hesitated, and then said, “He has nice eyes, doesn’t he?”

She avoided her cousin’s gaze, though she could tell he was even more perplexed than he had been a minute ago. “I guess. I can’t say I’ve ever noticed Scorpius Malfoy’s eyes before.”

“I - I’m just saying.”

There was a smile in James’s voice. “You don’t seem quite as horrified by this as you did ten minutes ago.”

“I’m really not sure how horrified I am.”

“Well, I’d try to figure it out, because from what you’ve said, it seems like his feelings about you are pretty damn conflicted. Which actually kind of makes me feel sorry for him.” He grinned. “Not that that will actually stop me from going after him, mind. The hair’s a good look for him, no?”

Rose finally managed a smile. “Thanks. You’re the best.” She hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Can you maybe not mention this to anyone? For a little while?”

“I can not mention it to anyone for as long as you’d like, Rosie. It’s not a problem.”

“Not even Roxanne?”

James snorted. “Especially not Roxanne. She’ll jinx him on principle, and while I’d usually get behind that, it doesn’t seem sporting to go after him just because he’s got a thing for a girl who happens to be related to us.”

Rose sat up and hugged him. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. You’ve got to admit, though, I’m pretty much the best cousin ever.” He reached out and ruffled her hair. “Today really hasn’t been your day, has it?”

“Nope.”

“If I reschedule practice, how much would you love me?”

“If you… what?” Rose would have thought that she was hallucinating for sure if her cousin didn’t have such a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “A lot.”

“All right. Consider it done. Ashleigh was bothering me earlier anyway about trading one or two practices - apparently she thinks the Slytherins need a good kick in the arse. She’s a good enough sort, for a Slytherin.” He nudged her. “Now, pull yourself together and go be yourself. Don’t worry too much about it - this really isn’t your problem unless you want it to be.”

Rose considered just staying in her dormitory for the evening, since James did indeed end up rescheduling Quidditch practice, but a growling stomach drove her downstairs for the early dinner. She peeked into the Great Hall before heading inside, but for a mercy, Albus was eating alone at the Gryffindor table. Occasionally, Scorpius joined him, and she felt like she still needed the evening to try and process what she’d heard.

She wasn’t stupid enough to talk to Albus about the conversation she’d overheard or her conversation with James, of course, but just spending time with him usually helped ease her tension and cool her temper.

“Hey,” she said, sliding in across from him.

He started and looked up from his book. “Rose? Don’t you have Quidditch practice now?”

“We were supposed to, but James rescheduled.”

Her cousin’s brow furrowed. “Seriously? Why?”

“I think the Slytherins wanted the pitch. I’m not feeling very well, so I’m just as happy for it.”

Albus closed his book and put it on the seat next to him. The Great Hall was far from full; the early dinner tended not to be a very popular one. “What’s wrong? Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I’m just tired, I guess. Sorry if I disappointed you earlier.”

He frowned. “What, with the library thing? Rose, I asked you to make an effort, not spend several hours every day with Scorpius. I know you two don’t - don’t get along very well.”

“I was kind of surprised that _he_ asked.”

“Me too, especially since he definitely thinks that you had something to do with his hair - he’s been ranting all day about _Rose Weasley_ and _that damn cousin of yours.”_

When they were done eating, they headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room. As they climbed the stairs, Albus cleared his throat. “So, I know you’re not feeling well, but…”

“But?” Rose prompted him. “I’m not made of glass, I’m just feeling a little off.”

_“Did_ you have anything to do with Scorpius’ new hair color?” She didn’t say anything, and he sighed. “I promise I won’t write home if you did. _Or_ to your parents.”

Rose adjusted the strap of her bag so it wasn’t pulling on her hair and assumed what she hoped was an expression of complete innocence. “You said it yourself, at Care of Magical Creatures. It couldn’t have been me. I was with you all morning.”

“Yeah, I know, I know. You got yourself an alibi.” He paused. When Rose glanced over at him, he seemed to be considering something. “Why did James and Roxanne really leave Care of Magical Creatures early?”

“I already told you. They wanted to book the Quidditch pitch.” She did not suggest that he check. Providing proof of your alibi before you were asked just made you look guilty. She’d learned that from Victoire, who had been the master at getting away with major violations of school rules.

“And they both needed to go?”

She shrugged. “I suppose not, but it’s always nice to have a second opinion.”

“Rose, say you did do it, hypothetically. What would have been your reason?” He sounded so earnest and serious. Rose loved Albus dearly, but sometimes she wanted to force feed him something that would make him take life a little less seriously.

“Hypothetically?” she asked. He nodded. “Hypothetically, if I had done it, which I didn’t, because I was with you all morning, it would have been because he was a jerk last night. He said I shouldn’t be in Gryffindor because I was a coward.” Albus looked skeptical. “He did!”

Her cousin looked up at the ceiling. She knew from long experience that if he was praying to anything or anyone, it was not going to be answered. “Great.”

“And he _kept_ calling me _Red.”_

Albus sighed again. “That’s just great. Surprise, surprise - he didn’t own up to any of that.”

“Of course not.”

“Can’t you two just try to be nice to each other?” he asked. He sounded exasperated, and Rose supposed she couldn’t really blame him. “Or at least civil? You don’t seem to manage to have these run-ins with Noah.”

“That’s because he doesn’t go out of his way to bother me, so I don’t bother him. Malfoy _does._ And, anyway, I _am_ trying - that was a hypothetical.”

“Right,” he said, in a very tired voice. “And you have an alibi, and my brother has plausible deniability.”

“Yep.”

He shook his head. “Whatever. Just… _try,_ Rose. He really _is_ a nice guy to be around.” She started to talk, and he cut her off, wearily. “Yes, I know he’s a Slytherin. The two are not mutually exclusive, you know. Noah’s a nice guy, too. I _like_ spending time with them.”

“Go lecture him, not me,” she said as they rounded the corner and emerged at the top of a staircase. _“He’s_ always picking fights with _me._ I’d be happier to just ignore him, I don’t know what his problem is.”

That part wasn’t strictly accurate - the conversation she’d overheard today gave her a pretty good idea of part of what Scorpius Malfoy’s problem was, but there was really no reasonable way to broach that subject. She had a feeling that Albus would react poorly to ‘Hey, Al, is your best friend harboring deep resentment toward me partially because he’d quite like to shut me up by kissing me?’

Albus sighed. “I don’t want to get into this with you - that’s not really why I brought this up. I just wanted to warn you - I’m pretty sure he’s looking to pay you back.”

She looked at him sharply. “What do you mean? What is he planning?”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t said, because he knows I’d tell him not to do it. But I know him, and I know that he’s not going to take this laying down. How long _will_ it take for that hair to fade, anyway?”

Rose shrugged. “I can take him. Hey, can I borrow Hazel tomorrow? Godric’s out taking a letter to Dominique.”

He looked a little taken aback by the apparent change of subject. “Sure.”

Rose was starting to hatch a plan.


	5. An Encounter in the Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose is confronted about her eavesdropping.
> 
> _"Rose, why have you been scrunching your hair up for five minutes?”_

It took a concentrated effort, but Rose managed to put Scorpius Malfoy out of her mind for long enough to finish her assignments for the following day. If she seemed distracted to Albus or Roxanne, who spent the evening working at their favorite corner table in the Gryffindor Common Room with her and James, the mention that she wasn’t feeling well was enough to defuse any curiosity.

James, of course, knew exactly why she was distracted, but other than a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth when she told Roxanne that she was feeling under the weather, he didn’t comment. She’d known he wouldn’t - James was good at keeping secrets, probably because James was also a good liar.

When she woke up the next morning, she was surprised to find that she felt refreshed. She still wasn’t sure how she wanted to approach the situation with Scorpius - whatever James said, she still wasn’t at all convinced that the Slytherin didn’t hate her, but her cousin had planted a seed in her mind that was going to take some time to come to fruition.

She was out of the bathroom before the other girls in her dormitory were even out of bed, though they were moving around by the time she was finished getting dressed.

“Rose, what are you doing?” Colleen asked. The other girl was sitting on her bed brushing out her dark hair. Though she kept it cropped short, it was so fine that it tended to tangle easily. “You’ve been at the mirror for five minutes. Your hair looks fine.”

Rose started. “I have not.”

“You have.” Colleen raised her eyebrows. “Is there some boy I don’t know about?”

“No!”

The denial came out more adamant than Rose had intended, which only increased her friend’s interest. “Girl?”

“No. There isn’t anyone.”

“Then why have you been scrunching your hair up for five minutes?”

“I haven’t been. Shut up.”

Colleen looked inclined to continue the line of questioning, but at that point, one of the other girls they shared the dormitory with emerged from the bathroom. Holly Zeller, though she was perfectly nice, had a tendency to also be very nosy. Colleen changed the subject, though the glance she sent to Rose promised that she would follow up on their conversation later.

Rose beat a hasty retreat down to the Common Room. She needed to write her letter and send it off before breakfast, anyway.

When she got to the owlery, she scanned the rafters for Albus’s owl. “Hazel!”

A barn owl glided down to her, and she pulled an owl treat out of her pocket. Hazel ate it happily, and Rose stroked her head for a moment before pulling the letter out of her bag. “Hazel, can you take this to Fred for me, please?” Hazel stuck out her leg. “Thank you!”

As she stepped back into the corridor, it occurred to her that she was alone, and that if Scorpius Malfoy had any sense, now would be the perfect time to surprise her. The letter she’d sent to her cousin would probably take care of that particular problem, but she doubted the solution would arrive that day.

She kept her wits about her and managed to reach the Great Hall unjinxed. On her way up the table to sit with Albus and Damien Bell, she stopped to whisper in James’s ear. “I need the map.”

He grinned and pulled a book out of his bag. “Make good choices.”

She shoved the book into her bag. “Don’t I always?”

He reached up to ruffle her hair, which would have effectively ruined the extra primping Colleen had definitely noticed. Rose stepped back so she was just out of his range.

James’s eyes flicked over to the Slytherin table and back. His eyebrows rose a little, and Rose could tell he knew exactly why she didn’t want her hair to be messy. She felt her face start to get warm, and her cousin winked at her. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” 

Rose would have liked to be able to avoid Scorpius Malfoy for at least another day while she dealt with the conversation he’d had with her cousin, but unfortunately, Tuesday mornings included History of Magic and Transfiguration, both of which the Gryffindors shared with the Slytherins.

She resolved to simply ignore him, but that ended up being easier said than done. When Albus sat down next to her, she fought the urge to groan - she knew that he and Scorpius _always_ sat together in History of Magic, which usually led to Albus asking her for her notes because he had been too busy playing hangman to take any.

And, sure enough, Scorpius ended up sitting down on Albus’s other side. “Hey, Al.” After a moment of hesitation, he glanced past his friend. “Good morning, Rose.”

Rose stared at him for a moment, wondering whether she’d actually gotten out of bed that morning or if she was still dreaming. Though, when had she ever dreamed about Scorpius Malfoy? “Morning,” she managed to say.

Scorpius turned back to Albus, and Rose put down her quill to massage her temples. It was going to be a long day, and she couldn’t fathom Scorpius’s motivation for suddenly being polite - particularly since he was still sporting flaming red hair.

“Albus read him the riot act yesterday,” a soft voice said on her other side.

She looked up. “Hi, Noah.”

The dark-haired boy gestured to the seat next to her. “Do you mind?”

“No, go ahead.”

When he’d taken out his parchment and quill - Noah Nott was as thorough a notetaker as she was - he looked back at her. “You looked confused.”

“I _am_ confused. Is someone who’s never met us using the Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him?”

Noah snorted. “No, nothing so interesting as that. We got out of Divination early yesterday and Albus spent ten minutes talking at Scorpius. There was a lot of gesturing. Scorpius barely got a word in. It was pretty funny.”

“Guess I got off easy. I got the lecture last night, but it was a lot more abbreviated.”

“Yeah, well, that’s fair. My cousin usually picks a fight with you, not the other way around - mostly.” He glanced past her and Albus to look at Scorpius, who had chosen a seat the sunlight at a very unfortunate angle. His hair was practically glowing. “I guess. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s still going to find a way to get back at you for that hair, but he’ll probably be a little more polite about it.”

“What are you talking about?” Scorpius had apparently noticed the attention, because he was looking around Albus again. This time, his eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

“Rose and I are discussing whether it’s ethical to continue to share our notes with either of you when you’re clearly never going to pay attention in History of Magic.”

Scorpius snorted and leaned back. “Be that way. I’ll steer my mother in _your_ direction when I fail my O.W.L.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on his side?” Rose asked Noah.

“Not when he’s being an idiot, I’m not. And anyway, I’m tired of hearing him complain about you. No offense, but you’re really not that interesting. I could have kissed Albus for shutting him down.”

Her conversation with Noah at the beginning of History of Magic ended up laying the foundation for was actually a very pleasant morning. As Albus had observed, Rose never had seemed to manage to have run-ins with Noah Nott the way she did with Scorpius Malfoy - what Albus seemed to have conveniently forgotten was that they didn’t clash because there just wasn’t all that much to clash about. Noah wasn’t really the sort of person Rose was inclined to spend a lot of her free time with, of course - he _was_ a Slytherin - but he was a good enough sort, and unlike her cousin, he genuinely liked most of his classes. That usually gave them plenty to talk about.

In fact, when they headed off to Arithmancy after History of Magic, Rose was so busy talking to Noah about the assignment due Thursday that she didn’t even wave goodbye to Albus, who had the hour and a half until Transfiguration free.

She did, however, notice the dirty look Scorpius shot Noah when they sped into Transfiguration a few minutes late. She considered asking Albus what _that_ was about - was he really so petty that he resented his cousin for _talking_ to her?

“What happened to you?” Albus asked as she stuffed her books into her bag after they’d been dismissed from Transfiguration. “You’re never late to Transfiguration.”

“Arithmancy ran over. We were talking about the ancient Egyptians.”

Noah nudged her, and she looked back at him. “Thanks for showing me that passage - it would have taken me another five minutes to get here without it.”

She smiled as they left the classroom. “No problem. Do you have any free time this afternoon? We could meet up in the library and work on that assignment.”

“I’m free until we have Divination. Meet you after lunch?”

She nodded and waved as she and Albus turned down the corridor that would lead them to the Gryffindor Common Room. When she looked at him, he had a small smile on his face.

“What?”

He stretched his arms about his head. “Oh, it’s just nice to see you getting along with one of my friends.”

“I’ve never _not_ gotten along with him - he’s not a git. Come on, I’m hungry.”

Though she spent most of her afternoon break working on the Arithmancy assignment, she was still in a good mood when she headed to her last class of the day, and she was even cheerful enough to join Albus when he headed to the library after they got out, even though she knew he’d probably be meeting Scorpius there.

As she’d expected, Scorpius _was_ there, though Noah was as well. She exchanged a cordial greeting with Scorpius and a considerably warmer one with his darker-haired cousin before wandering off to find a few books for her Herbology assignment.

She was just getting engrossed in a book that was decidedly _not_ related to the assignment when she heard a voice above her. “You’ve been jumpy lately.”

Rose started and dropped the book. It landed on the floor with a loud thud. When she saw that the speaker was Scorpius, she reached for her wand before remembering that it was in her bag back at the table.

Scorpius held up his hands. _“Relax._ I’m not going to hex you with Albus twenty feet away. Do I look like an idiot?”

Rose knelt back down to retrieve the book. “A little - I never can tell with you. And I’m not jumpy.”

He frowned at her. “Yes, you are. You’ve been jumpy since - oh, _hell._ Where were you yesterday afternoon?”

“Class.”

“What do you have while we have Divination?”

“Ancient Runes.”

“And you were on time for that, were you? I can ask Claire, she’s in Ancient Runes with you.”

She shrugged. “I was a couple minutes late. What of it?” She met his gaze squarely. After examining her for a moment, he blew out his breath in disgust.

“Noah took me through the strangest passage to get here - he said he learned it from _you.”_

Belatedly, Rose realized that the passage she’d taken Noah through was the same one she’d been hiding in when she’d eavesdropped on Scorpius and Albus the day before. She tried to keep her face straight, though thinking about the eavesdropping brought all of the disjointed bewilderment it had left her with rushing back… along with an intense urge to tease him.

“This is _exactly_ what I hate about you,” the boy snapped. “I wouldn’t have ever known if you hadn’t felt the need to show off.”

She rose so quickly that he actually took a step back. “I wasn’t showing off!” she whispered furiously.

“Right. And you didn’t have anything to do with this, either, right?” He gestured at his bright red hair.

“I wasn’t!” she protested, ignoring the reference to his hair. “We were running late. It’s not _my_ fault our class ran over-”

“No, but it _is_ your fault that you’ve suddenly decided to get so buddy-buddy with my cousin that it was just _natural_ for you to leave and arrive together. Where’d that come from, exactly?”

“I’ve never _not_ gotten along with your cousin. He’s a _reasonable_ human being.”

“And I’m not?”

Rose had to fight to keep her voice to rising above a whisper. “You’re not mad because Noah and I happened to talk and work on an assignment today. You’re just mad because I heard you talking about me.”

“Well, a little,” he acknowledged, “but I’m mostly annoyed because you’re such a damn hypocrite. You can’t go on about _strength of character_ and _true Gryffindors_ one minute and eavesdrop on private conversations the next. I thought people from your house were supposed to have _honor._ You’re just a pointless show-off.”

“I told you, I wasn’t showing off!”

“Then why did you do it?”

“Not everyone is as calculating as you, you know. We were running late, we took the passage. The end.”

Scorpius looked incredulous. “You really don’t think _anything_ through, do you?”

“Yeah, well, I’d rather that than be conniving like you!” she hissed.

He shrugged. He clearly did not understand an insult when he heard one. “Mostly I’d call myself cunning, but I guess I can be a little conniving, too. Believe it or not, I’m okay with that. Not all of us like going through our days without thinking about the consequences of any of our actions. Then, not all of us want to be worshipped, either.”

“I don’t want to be worshipped! I just think that wasting energy trying to predict the future is a really stupid way to go through life!”

“No middle ground for you, is there?” He turned away, shaking his head. “Well, Red, I hate to break it to you, but you’re still conceited as hell. You just also apparently have no self-control.”

Something prickled in Rose. The idea of letting him have the last say was intolerable, especially given how damned _strange_ he’d been acting lately. “Bet you wish I had a little less, don’t you?”

He stopped dead. After standing perfectly still for a moment, he looked back at her. The expression in his eyes and the slight flush starting to spread across his cheeks told her that she’d definitely struck a nerve. “Thanks, I’m good. Maybe you missed the part about how I want to punch you every time you open your mouth.”

Rose brushed by him, moving closer than she probably needed to in what was really a fairly wide aisle. “Well, I definitely didn’t miss the part about cold showers, so I’m sure there must be some situations where my mouth being open would be welcome enough.” She didn’t look back. She didn’t have to, to know that she’d made her impression, and she found with some surprise that she rather enjoyed it.

When he returned to the table several minutes later, she asked very politely, “Did you find that book you were looking for?”

“No, I didn’t,” he said, equally politely. The blush on his cheeks had faded, though the way his eyes narrowed slightly when he looked at her told her that the impact of her words had not. “Someone must have taken it out.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate.” Rose looked back at her paper and started writing again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw both Albus and Noah staring at her and Scorpius in turn, but when neither of them said anything else, the other boys went back to their work.

They worked largely in silence until a quarter to six. When she caught sight of the clock, Rose stood up. “I should get downstairs and have something to eat before practice.”

Al looked up, too. “When does he want you all out there?”

“Half past.”

He glanced at his parchment; he was only about about half-done with the essay they needed to write. “Do you want company?”

“Sure,” she said.

Albus packed up his books and looked at Scorpius and Noah. “Either of you going to eat yet?”

“In a bit,” Noah said. “I want to get this finished before I go downstairs to eat.”

“Good luck,” Rose said. As she and Albus turned, she heard Scorpius’s voice behind her.

“Have a great practice, Red. Keep your mouth closed - you don’t want to choke on the snitch.”

Rose felt her ears getting hot, though she had to admit that she’d probably deserved the jibe.

As they left the library, she looked back. Noah had gone back to his essay, but Scorpius was still watching them. She shook her head. He was such a _strange_ person.


	6. A Package from Fred

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose receives a package from Fred.
> 
> _"Maybe I should just sit back and laugh while you two jinx each other into oblivion. It seems like it would be easier than wishing you would get along."_

Rose’s paranoia was starting to get the best of her - Scorpius was still looking to pay her back for the hair, which thus far showed no sign of fading. She stuck to Albus like a bur on the way down to breakfast the next morning, and when the two sat down with James and Roxanne, Rose made very sure that her back was away from the Slytherin table.

Albus was clearly amused by her nervousness. “Maybe it would be good for you to get a taste of your own medicine.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, reaching for one of the platters loaded with pancakes with strawberries and blueberries on top of them. “Do you know what he’s talking about?” she asked Roxanne, who forced a very unconvincing look of innocence on her face when she shook her head.

“Whatever.” On the bright side, at least Albus seemed to be approaching the whole thing with relatively good humor for the moment. “Maybe I should just sit back and laugh while you two jinx each other into oblivion, as long as it’s not in my presence. It seems like it would be easier than wishing you would get along.”

“I still don’t see what Malfoy’s on about, I was with you all morning Monday.” Rose stuffed the first bite into her mouth and closed her eyes at the taste flooded her mouth; Hogwarts food always managed to be so _good._

“Yes, well, unfortunately, he’s under the impression that you have cousins who would be happy to stand in for you while you’re off having an alibi,” Albus said dryly.

Roxanne and James looked at each other.

“Do you think he’s talking about us?” she asked.

“Couldn’t be,” James said. “We _never_ break the rules.”

“Sure you don’t.”

James’s face took on an expression of deepest hurt. “Is my little brother accusing me of being a liar?”

“Yes, he is.” Albus speared a piece of sausage and popped it in his mouth.

“Tsk, tsk. Family should stick together, Albie.”

He swallowed and was opening his mouth to respond to Roxanne when the morning post began to flood in. Rose glanced up and saw Hazel gliding toward them, with two other owls and a large package in tow. After they dropped it in front of Rose, Hazel landed in front of Albus, who gave her a treat and stroked her feathers.

“What the hell is all that?” he asked.

“Fred.” Rose took the envelope attached to the package and opened it.

_Rose,_

_Hope your first few weeks back have gone well. Good to hear that you’ve already gotten into some sort of trouble. I was afraid your prefect badge would stop you from having any fun. I’ll want to hear more about it your first Hogsmeade weekend. (Or before.)_

_Dad’s actually developed a new line of shield charms that will be hitting the shelves in October. There have been a lot of requests for something unobtrusive. I included a few - you can never be too safe!_

_I also tossed in a few things in the package that should make your week a little brighter. Share them around with Rox and James and the rest. Make sure to give Al some of the snackboxes._

_All my best,_

_Fred_

_P.S. Practice is good for you. Tell James I approve._

Roxanne began to tear into the package, and James yelled down the table, “Lily! Go grab Hugo and get down here!” His sister obeyed with alacrity, and some second years scooted down to make room for them. “Someone should go get Louis and Lucy, too,” he said belatedly.

“No need,” said a voice from behind him. Rose looked up and saw the two seventh-years approaching them, Lily and Hugo in tow. “We were curious,” Louis said, sliding into the empty space next to James. Rose moved over to make room for her brother. “What’s the package? Who’s it from?”

“Fred.”

Lucy took advantage of the empty space next to Roxanne and slid onto the bench. “Oh, dear. This is going to interfere with my prefect sensibilities horribly, isn’t it?” Despite her words, her voice was quite cheerful, and there was only curiosity in her face as she swept her thick dark hair behind her shoulder when it fell dangerously close to Roxanne’s plate.

“Probably.” Rose pulled a jewelry box out of the package and opened it to find a pendant cradling a bright red stone. Roxanne and Lily found similar necklaces in the boxes labeled with their names, and Lucy had received a bracelet with yellow stones that she immediately fastened around her wrist.

“That’s clever,” she commented. “House colors.” She examined the bracelet. “It’s actually quite pretty. Er - while I appreciate it, why is Fred sending us jewelry?”

“It’s a new product from the shop,” Rose told her. “Shield charms.”

“Why don’t we get shield charms?” Hugo asked, looking extremely put out. 

James had taken another box from the package and opened it. “Apparently we do,” he said, slipping a hemp bracelet over his wrist before handing the other boys similar boxes. When he turned back to the box, a broad grin spread across his face, and he reached in and pulled out a box of fireworks.

Lucy eyed the brightly-colored box that Rose had just set down on the table. “Don’t let me catch any of you skipping classes.”

“Would you really put us in detention?” Hugo asked as Rose turned the box upside down and emptied the snackboxes onto the table.

“No, of course not. But I’d feel a little guilty about not doing it.” Lucy picked up a few of the brightly wrapped candies to examine them. “Wow, they’ve branched out since last time I was there. Fred’s been busy, hasn’t he?” She hesitated. “Um, can I take a few?”

Hugo, Albus, and James all stopped picking out their favorites and gaped at her.

“Go ahead,” Rose managed to reply after a few moments. Lucy picked out several Sneezing Strawberries and Raspberry Rashes and slipped them into her pocket. By the time Rose had recovered from the surprise enough to turn back to the pile, the only things left were Vertigo Vanillas, Cocoa Chills, and Tearing Truffles. “Come on, really? I’m the reason he sent all of this in the first place!”

James groaned. “Fine.” He handed over a few Fever Fudges, and after a moment, the others offered up some Bruising Blueberries and Nosebleed Nougats.

There was another box full of trick sweets, which Rose had no interest in. As James, Roxanne, Hugo, and Lily began to divvy them up, she began to examine one of the love potions.

A small hand snaked out and grabbed one of the bottles sitting in front of Rose. It was not until both Lucy and Rose threatened her with detention and James told her that he would write to their parents that Lily relinquished her prize. Rose personally doubted that he would have done anything of the sort, but Lily seemed to think that it wasn’t worth risking it.

“Why do you want love potions, anyway, Lily?” Lucy asked once Lily had handed them over. “You’re a third-year.”

“I wanted to give them to people and watch them act ridiculous.”

“Just as well they stopped you,” Louis said offhandedly as he poured himself a glass of water. “The last people who did ended up with about ten detentions.”

Roxanne looked wistful. “James, we haven’t done anything that destructive in a long time.”

“And you won’t plan it while I’m sitting right here,” Lucy told her. “What else is in the box, Rose?” When they’d finished unpacking it, there were a variety of Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes products on the table between them all. Fred had even thrown in some Honeydukes sweets.

“Here, Hugo,” Rose called to her brother. “Have a chocolate frog!”

He caught it. As her was opening it, Louis suddenly grabbed a napkin off the table and spat something into it. As he was lowering his goblet, Rose noticed the open box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.

“What did you get?” she asked.

He made a face. “Chili. I thought it was cranberry.”

Lily took advantage of the distraction to inch her hand toward a daydream charm. Roxanne smacked it away. _“No,_ Lily.”

“But—”

James saw the charm in Roxanne’s hand and looked at his sister. _“No,_ Lily. They’re for sixteen and up. You’re thirteen.” Rose exchanged an amused look with her brother; it was very rare to see James and Roxanne defend any rule.

Roxanne looked over at James, who had begun to pick up trick wands. “Oi! Let’s get going.”

He stuffed a few more things in his bag and they left. Lucy stared after them, frowning. “How did he manage to fit everything in that one bag? It’s not very big, and he’s got to have books in it for today’s classes already.”

“You should see him packing up the car when we go on trips,” Albus said. “What’s that muggle game? Tetrack?”

Rose and Hugo both snorted. “Tetris,” Hugo said. “James is good at car tetris.”

Lucy smiled. “Well, I’m jealous.” She turned back to the table. Louis, however, stared after James and Roxanne for another minute, looking a little more skeptical. When he noticed Rose watching him, though, he smiled.

While Louis, like Scorpius, was fair, the two boys couldn’t have looked more different. Louis still carried a healthy tan from his summer, and he was rather bulkier than Scorpius; her cousin had aspirations of becoming a Hit Wizard after completing his seventh year, and he’d clearly spent the summer building up his muscles.

His smile was also completely genuine.

Rose opened her bag. “Al, did you want any daydream charms? This one looks like it’s more you than me.”

He took it. Lily opened her mouth, and he looked at her sharply. “Not one more word.” She sighed and helped herself to several fizzing whizzbees and trick wands.

“Let’s divvy up the rest of it. We should be getting to class.” Rose grabbed a few more trick sweets before Lily could take the rest, and with difficulty managed to fit them and a handful of chocolate frogs into her bag, which was already bulging with extendable ears, a couple decoy detonators, and a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Rose checked the box one more time. It was empty, and someone had even claimed the last of the snackboxes. There was nothing left on the table but discarded wrappers.

Before they scattered, Rose made plans to meet up with her brother in the library the next day. She didn’t see him as much as she would have liked; she wished he’d been Sorted into Gryffindor with Lily, but instead, he’d ended up in Hufflepuff. She and Albus left Lily and Hugo talking animatedly about who they could trick into eating the sweets.

“You’ve got the morning free until History of Magic, don’t you?” she asked.

Albus grinned. “Lucky me, huh? If you have the map, give it to me - I want to keep an eye on those two.” He jerked his head back toward the third years. “They’re trouble.”

She handed the book it was hidden in over. “See you in Care of Magical Creatures!” Unlike Albus, Rose did not have the morning free.

Still, the morning was punctuated by loud explosions - James and Roxanne were clearly making good use of all the fireworks - which made for an entertaining, if disruptive, morning. Professor Morden continued on gamely through a double period of Ancient Runes, but Professor Brooks didn’t share her fortitude - he let Arithmancy out after a mere twenty minutes of class, massaging his temples and vowing to find the troublemakers.

When Rose got to Care of Magical Creatures, which was probably one of the only lessons of the day that wouldn’t be interrupted by frequent explosions, she found Albus and Scorpius already there and settled on the grass. She headed over to join them, feeling that nothing, not even Scorpius Malfoy, could ruin her good mood. If she was going to try to be nice to him, it might as well be when she was feeling so cheerful.

“Family reunion at breakfast today?” Scorpius called out to her. “I’ve still got this damn Weasley hair - why didn’t you invite me?”

She rolled her eyes at him and reached into her bag. “Here, Malfoy, have a chocolate frog.”

He caught it and eyed it suspiciously. “Do you think it’s safe?” he asked Albus.

“Yeah, she’s in a good mood. Nothing yet from Lily and Hugo, Rose - I think they’re biding their time until break. Lunchtime?”

“Definitely.” Rose took out another frog for herself and settled down next to him. As the sun hit her face, she let herself fall back onto the grass - just now, she really couldn’t complain about anything.


	7. Family Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Scorpius learns about a Potter family secret.
> 
> _"I was just starting to forget why I hated you quite so much. Thanks for bringing it all back.”_

As they neared the castle after class, they could hear more explosions. A particularly deafening one came just after they’d gotten inside.

Once Albus was sure they could here again, he jerked his head toward the corridor. “Come on, let’s find a classroom and see what they’re up to.” Rose looked at Scorpius, who was standing on Albus’s other side. He saw where her gaze was directed and scowled. “Rose, he’s my friend, and I say he can come.”

She decided that getting into an argument about it in the hallway was not going to change the outcome anyway, so she turned without challenging her cousin. Instead, she stretched her arms over her head and glanced out one of the tall windows. “Today’s such a _good_ day, don’t you think?” 

“Maybe your cousin should send a package to her every day,” she heard Scorpius mutter to Albus.

“Remember that part where it’s probably better for all of us if you don’t see this side of her very often?” Albus also kept his voice low, but Rose, who was listening carefully, caught it anyway.

“Yeah. I do.” They caught up with her as she started humming an old Weird Sisters song.

Her cousin nudged her. “Are you sure no one spiked your drink or your food this morning?”

“What, am I not allowed to be in a good mood?”

“Rosie, you are always allowed to be in a good mood.” He peeked into a classroom. “No one’s in here right now.”

Once the door was closed, Rose crossed her arms and looked at Scorpius. “Will he tell anyone?”

Scorpius’s eyes flicked from her to Albus. “Al, what exactly are you getting me into? If you have to kill me if you tell me or something like that, please just don’t tell me.”

Al ignored him. “No, he won’t.” He looked at Scorpius. “Will you?”

“I don’t know! I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Albus looked back at Rose. “No, he won’t.”

“Do I not get a say in what I will or won’t do?” his friend demanded.

“You won’t,” Albus said. “Come on, Rose. It’s lunch, and I’m sure they’ll be taking advantage of it to put that stuff all over the place. I want to see where so I can laugh at people rather than fall into the trap myself.”

“Fair enough.” She watched as he pulled the book out of his bag and slid the parchment out from between its pages. After he’d laid it on a table, Rose pulled out her wand. “If you tell anyone about this, it’s war,” she told Scorpius.

“Look, I’ll just leave. I don’t need some deep dark Weasley secret to keep.”

“It’s actually a Potter secret,” Albus said, only half-listening. “You’re fine. Ignore Rose.”

“If he tells someone and James kills you both, tell him it wasn’t my idea before you croak.” Scorpius was now eying the piece of parchment like he expected it to explode. Given the morning, Rose couldn’t exactly blame him. She pointed her wand and whispered as she tapped it, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

“What a surprise,” Scorpius muttered, looking at the parchment. Lines began to appear on the paper, and his eyes went wide. “What the—”

Rose looked at Albus expectantly, and Albus sighed. “It’s the Marauder’s Map.”

“What the _hell_ is a Marauder’s Map?”

“The,” Rose corrected as she rummaged in her bag for a chocolate frog. “There’s only one.”

He rolled his eyes. “What’s _the_ Marauder’s Map, then?”

“It’s a Potter family secret,” Albus repeated. “Go ahead,” he told Rose. “You understand it better than me.” She swallowed the head of her frog, and he grinned. “You keep eating that much chocolate, it’s going to go straight to your hips.”

“That’s okay, they could use it. I’m too bony there, anyway.”

Scorpius opened his mouth, paused, and repeated, “What is _the_ Marauder’s Map?”

Rose had a feeling that that was not what he had initially been planning to say, but she couldn’t exactly call him on it with Albus sitting there. “It’s a map of Hogwarts.”

He frowned and leaned over to look at it closer. He had apparently been too surprised by the lines appearing on the yellowed parchment to process what those lines were. “Huh.” His eyes widened, and he pointed to a classroom. “Is that…”

Rose leaned over. “Yes, that’s us.”

“What _is_ this?” he asked again, sounding a little more awestruck than he had before.

“It’s the Marauder’s Map,” Rose repeated. Albus cleared his throat. “Oh, fine, have it your way,” she said. “It’s a map of Hogwarts. It shows everyone and everything in the castle.”

“Well, except for the Chamber of Secrets.”

Scorpius stared at him. “That’s an actual thing? I mean, it’s real?”

“Yep. My dad told us about it last New Year’s,” Rose said. You could always manage to convince her father or her aunt to start telling interesting stories about their time at Hogwarts once they’d had enough to drink, and since it didn’t happen very often, she, Hugo, and her cousins tried to take full advantage of it when it did. “Apparently it was built to house the basilisk _your_ house founder left in the school.”

Scorpius jerked his head around, as if expecting a basilisk to be lurking in the corner of the room. “A basilisk?”

“It’s dead now,” Albus said quickly. “My father killed it in his second year.”

Scorpius’s eyebrows looked as though they were in dangerous of disappearing into his hairline. “Your _father_ killed a _basilisk_ in his _second year?”_ After a moment, he relaxed. “Very funny. You had me going for a minute.”

“I’m not joking. My mother almost died.”

“My mum got petrified,” Rose offered. Her father had been very forthcoming indeed that New Year’s, particularly when Rose’s mother, aunt, and uncle left the room.

Scorpius stared at them. “You’re serious.”

“Yes,” Albus agreed.

“So, wait a minute. There was a basilisk attaching people while _our parents_ were here?”

Rose studied his face. It seemed to really be the first time he was hearing about it. “Yes,” she said. “You didn’t know that?”

Scorpius shook his head. “You’ve have definitely gotten more interesting stories about Hogwarts from your parents than I have from mine. The most exciting thing _my_ father’s told me is that he got mauled by a hippogriff because he was being an ass.”

“That’s what he said?” Rose asked skeptically.

“Yeah. It was part of his ‘if you’re going to take Care of Magical Creatures, pay attention in it’ lecture.” Scorpius managed a smile. “I get the feeling that most of his memorable times at Hogwarts don’t exactly fill him with pride.”

Albus looked at Rose. “Is the room of requirement on there? I never checked.” It was a rather transparent attempt to make his friend feel less uncomfortable, but she went along with it.

“No.” Albus didn’t tend to use the map - or the cloak, for that matter - very often; as a student whose rule-breaking was typically limited to occasionally sneaking down to the kitchens at night and using skiving snackboxes, he didn’t have much need for either of them.

Scorpius looked lost again. “What the _hell_ is the room of requirement?”

“Well, it’s also known as the come-and-go room.” Rose knew she was being deliberately unhelpful, but she was getting a perverse sort of amusement out of it.

“That’s helpful. Thanks, Red.”

“It’s a room that’s… well, it’s complicated. I’ll show you some time,” said Albus.

Scorpius did not look particularly mollified. “And your parents told you about that?”

“No,” Rose said. “One of our cousins did.” She certainly wasn’t going to tell him any more than that. He could probably guess without too much effort that Fred was involved, but she doubted that he would ever guess that Victoire had found it first.

Victoire had been very good at covering her tracks.

Scorpius either sensed that she wasn’t going to go into more detail or decided that he didn’t care. “So, wait a minute,” he said. “It shows _everything?”_

“Yes,” Albus said.

“But what if someone was an animagus or something?” Scorpius asked, the wheels in his head turning.

Rose shook her head. “They still show up.”

“What about the polyjuice potion?” She had the distinct impression that Scorpius was trying to find something that the map could not do.

“You still show up as yourself, not the person you turned into,” she said.

“You’re not going to tell me how you know that, are you,” he said, not really making it a question.

There were funny stories behind her answers to both of his questions, but she would be damned if she was going to share either with him. “Nope.”

She could see the wheels in Scorpius’s head turning. “What about an invisibility cloak?” Albus glanced at Rose, who bit her lip. Scorpius saw the look. “What?”

“Don’t ask,” Albus said.

He looked like he wanted to, and he probably would have if Rose had said it, but since it was Albus, he let it go and glanced at the map again. “It seems damn useful.”

“It is.”

Rose leaned over to examine the map more carefully, feeling that they had wasted quite enough time on explaining it to Scorpius.

“That’s a pretty necklace,” he commented.

She looked up at him, and saw his gaze directed toward the pendant. She touched it. “Oh. Thanks. It was a gift.”

“From who?”

“My cousin.” She looked back at the map to discourage further questions.

After a moment, Scorpius pointed to the dungeon. Rose followed his finger and saw a dot labeled _Roxanne Weasley_ wandering around the Potions classroom. “What do you want to bet it’s fireworks?” Albus asked.

“Nothing,” Rose replied. “I try not to make bets I know I’m going to lose.”

“She’s putting fireworks in Dorny’s classroom?” Scorpius asked, looking surprised. “I thought she liked Potions.”

“She does,” Albus said. “But she also likes being destructive.” He pointed to a dot labeled _James Potter._ “There’s my brother. Oh, I hope that whatever he’s done, it gets us out of Charms. Then if we use a snackbox to get out of History of Magic, we’ve got most of our afternoon free.”

Rose pointed to the kitchens. “Three guesses what Hugo and Lily are doing.”

Albus laughed, but Scorpius just shook his head. “What?”

“Let’s put it this way,” Albus said. “Don’t eat anything at dinner. _Definitely_ don’t have any dessert. Should we warn anyone?” he asked Rose.

“Are you kidding me? Hell, no.” She tapped her wand to the parchment. “Mischief managed.”

When she straightened up, she saw Scorpius’s gaze flick upward.

Albus grabbed his bag. “I’m going to run up to my dormitory to get my books. I’ll meet you at Charms - if we have it, anyway.” Scorpius left with him.

Rose had just carefully folded the map and put it away when Scorpius walked back in. “Yes?” she asked. Then she saw the wand in his hand and went for hers, which was still lying on the desk.

He pointed his wand at her before she had the chance to speak. “Expelliarmus!”

Nothing happened. Rose felt a smirk spread across her lips.

“Yeah,” Scorpius said. “I thought so. Real cute. It seemed weird that I somehow managed to miss you on your way to Arithmancy. By ‘cousin,’ I’m assuming you meant ‘Fred.’”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. It did.” He boosted himself up to sit on one of the desks. “You know, just because you’re in a good mood today doesn’t mean I’m not going to make you pay for this.” He brushed his still-red hair out of his face. “One way or another.”

“Bring it. I don’t ever have to take this off.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “The sorting hat seriously considered putting me in Ravenclaw. I’ll find a way.”

“The sorting hat didn’t consider putting me in anything but Gryffindor,” she said proudly.

“Yeah. Well. What a surprise.”

“So, tell me.” She smiled her very sweetest smile. “Were you really just noticing my necklace, or were you staring down my shirt?”

“You know, Red, the world doesn’t actually revolve around you.” The red tinge to his cheeks belied his brush-off, and she smiled smugly.

“Do you think that my hips are just fine the way they are?” she taunted.

He pushed himself off the desk. “You know, Red, I was _just_ starting to forget why I hated you quite so much. Thanks for bringing it all back.”

“Well, that’s better for all of us, isn’t it?” His cheeks got redder. 

He walked toward her, and when they were practically nose-to-nose, he said, “Look. You should get this straight. As you so _cleverly_ deduced by hiding behind portraits and eavesdropping, yeah, unfortunately, I think you’re hot. Don’t worry - I’m getting over it quickly. At this point, I’d rather kiss the giant squid,” he spat.

“Really?” she asked, licking her lips.

His eyes flicked down to them for a second before going back up to her eyes, and he drew back. “God, you are such a tease. Yeah. _Really.”_

“Poor baby,” she said. “Go cry to Albus. And while you’re at it, explain to him why you’re looking down my shirt to begin with.”

He looked as though he’d been forced to swallow stinksap. When she reached the door and glanced back at him, his wand was raised again. “Stupefy!”

She looked back at him and smirked.

He sneered back. “Just checking. Watch your back. I owe you for this ridiculous hair.”


	8. Trick Sweets and Blood Traitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hogwarts has a very eventful dinner and Scorpius babbles uncontrollably.
> 
> _“My hair looks better its real color. I’m really quite dashing that way.”_

When dinner rolled around, Rose, James, and Albus were prepared. They brought down most of what remained of the butterbeers and sweets they’d brought with them at the beginning of the year rather than risk eating food that had been meddled with by a pair of very mischievous third years. Roxanne, however, decided against taking these precautions on the grounds that babbling incoherently could be highly entertaining.

It turned out to be one of their most memorable meals at Hogwarts thus far. Fellow students began to suddenly and inexplicably turn into large pelicans for just long enough for the people around them to realize that they hadn’t simply dozed off before turning back into themselves. Others began to babble nonsense - and unlike the trick sweets, this effect did not seem to fade quickly.

Though everyone realized quickly that the food had been tampered with, avoiding the dangerous dishes proved to be a difficult task: there was no discernible pattern to what had been targeted. Many people seemed to decide that going hungry one night was preferable to the effects caused by the food and chose to stick to the drinks.

Hugo and Lily had evidently foreseen this response and added potions to the pitchers as well, some of which took a good five or ten minutes to take effect.

After about fifteen minutes, students across the Great Hall were slumping half-asleep in their chairs or looking around as if they could not remember coming to the Great Hall to begin with. When dessert appeared, many were not lucid enough to be wary of it.

On one hand, they did stop turning into pelicans, but on the other, they began to turn into large canaries, and they babbled more than ever. She looked up at the high table, surprised that the teachers still hadn’t said anything. They all looked unexpectedly mellow.

Albus leaned over to her and whispered, “I think they’ve been given calming draughts. Lily and Hugo couldn’t have made those - I bet you anything Roxanne gave it to them.”

Professor McGonagall eventually seemed to come to her senses and stood up. Rose was too busy giggling at Roxanne, who had found a babbling gummy in her desert and decided to eat it anyway, to really pay attention to what McGonagall was saying, but she heard enough to gather that once they found the people responsible for this, they would be put in detention. She also gathered that prefects were still supposed to patrol that night, assuming they felt capable.

“C’mon, Rose,” James said as Roxanne continued to ramble on about Quidditch. “Just say you forgot, with this mayhem half the prefects who are supposed to patrol will.”

“I know,” she replied. “But I really should.” She swallowed the rest of her butterbeer and looked at the clock. “I’ve got another few minutes.”

She looked over at the Slytherin table to try to find Noah, who she was supposed to patrol with; to her surprise, he was already heading toward her. She was about to point out that they still had a few minutes when she realized that his attention was on Albus instead.

“What’s up?” her cousin called out. “Don’t you have to go patrol in a few minutes?”

“Yeah.” Noah stopped next to them. “Hey, Rose.” She smiled back. “Yeah,” Noah repeated. “That’s why I’m over here.”

Roxanne pointed across the table. “You’re Noah Nott.”

“Yeah. I know I am.”

“You’re actually a pretty good seeker, you know,” Roxanne told him. “We all think so.”

“Thanks, I guess. Look, Al, we _do_ have to patrol in the next few minutes, that’s why I’m here. Scorpius… well, when we came down to dinner, he mentioned that he’d heard a rumor that the food would have some interesting effects when consumed, so neither of us actually ate anything until we _thought_ we’d figured out what was safe.”

“Did you see that the purple granite tells about chips and cigars?” Roxanne asked no one in particular.

Rose giggled. Noah looked like he wanted to laugh, too, but managed to restrain himself. “Well, I guessed lucky, and he… didn’t. I think he got a babbling gummy, too. And he kept drinking, because he hadn’t heard anything about potions being put into pitchers, which you obviously did.”

Albus shook his head and took another sip of his butterbeer. “No, we just thought we’d play it safe.”

“Ah. Anyway, I’m pretty sure there was a sleeping draught or something in whatever he drank, because he’s gone really loopy.”

Albus drained the rest of the bottle and stood up. “Do you need help?”

“Yeah. Parkinson and Flint offered to help him back to the common room, but you know how _they_ are, and Vera Zabini’s fluttering her eyes at him, and you know how _she_ is.”

Rose didn’t know, but Albus clearly did. “Yeah, I’ll help him to the library or something until curfew.”

“Thanks.”

Rose frowned. “Al, you might get tossed out of the library if he’s being anything like Roxanne.”

They looked over Roxanne. “Hovering hummingbirds eat baby alligator’s teeth off hatchets,” she told James and a few second-years, looking very somber.

Albus blew out a breath, his brow furrowed. “I’ll figure it out.”

He made to get up, and she caught his sleeve. “Let me give you the map, then you can just avoid them,” she muttered, reaching into her bag for the book it was hidden in. “Just in case you gave time to do that homework,” she said, making sure her voice carried.

Albus put it in his bag. “Thanks.”

She followed the two of them away from the table. “We probably ought to start patrol, huh?”

Noah sighed. “Lucky us. I almost wish I _had_ eaten something like Scorpius, then I wouldn’t have to deal with whatever pranks are planned for after dinner.”

Rose looked back at the Gryffindor table. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, James and Roxanne probably _won’t_ be doing anything more tonight, not with her like that.”

“Strangely enough, it does.”

It was Rose’s luck that brought her through a hallway just as Albus was coaxing Scorpius into a secret passage. The blond boy appeared to be listening, but when she approached, he smiled at her without any hint of unpleasantness - a disarming event in and of itself. “You gave us magic and we avoided Flint and Parkinson, which is good because they hate blood and traitors and the sky in the place in the grindylow.”

Albus glanced at the map quickly. “I’m trying to convince him to go upstairs to the Room of Requirement - that’s probably reasonably safe.” Apparently he saw no immediate danger, because he leaned against the wall and answered her questioning glance in an undertone. “Noah and Scorpius think that Flint and Parkinson see them as blood traitors, so they’re not really people you’d trust at your back.”

_“Really?”_

Scorpius leaned in close to Rose. “Virus Zabini is a kind of toad. Did you know know that toads don’t fly in aeroplanes or fellytones?”

“Yes, thank you. Are you sure she’s not, you know, a person?.”

Scorpius shook his head. “Toad,” he said confidently. “Her nose is squashed and her hair is ugly. Also she doesn’t have a chest. Also—”

“Thanks, Scorpius,” Albus said loudly. He looked at Rose. “None of us can figure out whether she thinks he’s a blood traitor or fancies him or a little of both, but he really can’t stand her, and he’d kill us both if we let him go back to the common room alone with her.”

“You know, I think it’s good for a girl to have a chest. Otherwise, you could see her lungs and her heart, and there would be blood, and I’m not a vampire or even a dragon.” Scorpius stepped past Albus to put an arm around Rose’s shoulder. She successfully fought off the urge to jump, though her heart _did_ skip a couple beats. “You know, Red,” he said, “you have red hair. Is that why you made mine red? My hair looks better its real color. I’m really quite dashing that way.”

“I’m sure it’ll fade soon,” she told him, though in truth, she wasn’t actually all that sure of it. James and Roxanne knew their jinxes well.

“Well, good, ‘cause I look like a Weasley cousin right now and I’m not a Weasley. I’m also not a stoat. Or a ferret. My father got turned into a ferret once, did you know?”

“I did, actually.”

“Well, if I was a stoat, that would be really inappropriate,” he said. “Because I don’t believe in incest. I’m learning about muggle science over this last summer, and I learned about DNA. It’s interesting, isn’t it?”

Rose was struggling to follow his train of thought, and Albus was clearly in a similar position. “Yes,” she said slowly. When her muggle grandparents had taken her to a science museum when she was younger, she’d found genetics quite interesting. She hoped that was what she was agreeing to.

“I think you’re both some really distant cousins of mine,” Scorpius decided. “Whales and squids are also kind of the same because they exist in water, though. We only have a squid here. Do you think it ever ate anyone?”

“I don’t think so,” Albus said. “Come on, Scorpius. Let’s go down upstairs.”

As he started to lead Scorpius toward the through the passage, though, Scorpius stopped and looked at Rose again. “You do not look squashed and I cannot see your lungs or heart. And I am not a ferret.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Also, I lied before.”

Albus winced. “Let’s go, Scorpius.”

“The giant squid is not preferable!” Scorpius called over his shoulder as the tapestry fell back over the opening.

It took Rose a moment to remember what he was talking about. When did, she felt her face get hot.

Rose ran into Noah about forty-five minutes into their patrol as she was going upstairs to the second floor and he was turning off the landing of the third.

“Hey,” she said, ascending an extra few stairs. “Bump into any trouble?”

“Not yet,” he said, leaning on the bannister. “Other than the few firecrackers still flying around. You?”

“Nope. Can I ask you something?” He raised his eyebrows. “I bumped into Albus and your cousin as they were going upstairs, and I asked Albus why you guys don’t trust Flint and Parkinson. Your cousin started babbling something about blood traitors, and Al said that you both think they both see _you_ as blood traitors. And I was just wondering…”

“Why?” She nodded. “That’s actually not all that personal. _They’d_ probably tell you if you asked. Well,” he checked himself, “maybe not _you,_ but most people.” He sat down on a step. “We should probably be patrolling.”

“Five minutes won’t hurt anyone.”

“Yeah, probably not. Okay, so - so your family is filled with war heroes who were _always_ on the right side. They won. People like Parkinson and Flint? Their families were on the wrong side then, and the only reason they’re not still on it is that there isn’t someone leading them.”

“But what about _your_ family? Weren’t all of you on the wrong side, too?”

Noah sighed. “I guess, but it wasn’t quite so simple for us. I’m assuming the Greengrasses aren’t the ones giving you pause?” Rose shook her head. “Yeah, didn’t think so. Well, it’s one thing to have abstract aspirations for a pureblood society, and another to watch your classmates - even classmates you don’t like very much - being tortured and killed over it. Scorpius can tell you about his family if he likes, but I’ll just say that my uncle Draco was young, really young, when he decided to support Voldemort, and… well, he changed.

“My father - well, he’s never been very interested in being part of a group. My mum says he was always a loner in school, too. On one hand, yeah, he did buy into some of the pureblood propaganda, so I’m not going to stand here and tell you that he’s as pure as freshly fallen snow. But he wasn’t a death eater, and he didn’t like Voldemort’s society very much.”

Rose considered that for a minute. “But I still don’t understand how that makes either of you blood traitors.”

“Well, it doesn’t, but we weren’t raised in households that were big on blood purity. I mean, when I say that my father changed, I don’t mean that he sat in his manor and just didn’t actively go after muggleborns. I mean that he _changed._ He deals with muggleborns on a regular basis, and he does it just fine. I mean, I don’t know how he’d react if I brought a muggleborn _home,_ but it’s progress.

“I mean, if I cared about blood purity, I imagine that it would matter what my father believes - I’d be welcomed me in with open arms. But I don’t, and neither does my brother.” He grinned and added, “And, hey, Scorpius and I hang around with Albus an awful lot, which would probably be enough to convict us all on its own.”

“Why?”

“Well, Al’s father hardly inspires fuzzy feelings in people who want a pureblood society, and most of the Weasley aren’t even purebloods anymore.” He got up. “Does that answer your question?”

“Yes,” she said. “Are most people in Slytherin still into that blood purity thing, or is it just them?”

He grimaced. “Well, no. Not really. There are other qualities important to Slytherin house, you know—resourcefulness, for one,” he said, glancing at her, and she knew he was thinking about Scorpius’s reaction to his red hair. “There’s a pretty sizable splinter in our year that’s really into blood purity, but our year is the worst. They mostly leave us alone, probably because we’re better at magic than them and none of the Slytherin prefects have any patience for that stuff. But I wouldn’t trust them for a moment if they had the opportunity to do something.”

“Thanks,” Rose said, though it felt a little inadequate as a response.

Noah shrugged. “Really, it’s not a huge secret. They probably wouldn’t tell you anything, but they’d tell almost anyone else. They’re not shy about it.”

“Yeah, well, still. Thanks.”

“No problem. Back to patrol, then.” He started to head back up the stairs.

“Hopefully it’ll keep being uneventful.”

He held up crossed fingers and grinned, and she did the same as he disappeared into the corridor.

Rose was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn’t even realize her patrol was up until she caught sight of a clock on the first floor that read 8:45. When she turned to head back toward the stairs, however, she saw Scorpius leaning against the wall just ten feet behind her.

“Hey, Red.” When she jumped, his teeth flashed in the dim light. “Scare you?”

She tried to ignore her racing heart. “No.” She didn’t know why she’d been so startled; the ghosts frequently floated through walls to great passing students, and the secret passages allowed students who knew about them to appear out of nowhere. She’d just been so sure that she was alone, and the idea that he’d been able to sneak up on her was disconcerting.

“Thanks for giving Al the map,” he said. “We didn’t actually end up needing it, but it was still decent of you.”

“You knew where I was!”

“Well, yeah, but I promised I wouldn’t do anything but scare you a little. He said I’m not allowed to use it to look for you if I’m planning any kind of retaliation for this stupid hair.” He straightened. “Not that I know what he’s talking about.”

“I keep telling you that I didn’t do it. I was with Al the whole time.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you’ve got a time turner, or maybe you just passed the task off to one of your adoring cousins. I don’t care. I know it was you.” He ran a hand through his hair. Rose couldn’t hold in her laugh, and he scowled. “I know, it’s hilarious, isn’t it?”

“Have you _looked_ in the mirror?” The frown deepened, so she changed the subject. “Well, what do you want? You didn’t just come here to scare me, and this isn’t the fastest way to your common room from the Room of Requirement.”

“I don’t really remember everything I said after I fell victim to that _clever_ prank by Lily and your brother-”

“Oh, come on. It was funny.”

Scorpius allowed a small smile to creep across his lips. “All right, yes, it was, and I was stupid to trust the drinks. Anyway, I do _think_ I remember starting to go on about blood traitors, and I wanted to make sure you knew that I wasn’t calling you one.”

Rose stared at him for a moment. Was Scorpius Malfoy _apologizing_ to her, even if in a fairly roundabout way? “Oh, no, that’s not what you were saying at all, and I knew it. But thanks.”

“Yeah, well, I might not like you, but that’s personal. Your parents are probably perfectly nice people who just have the misfortune of having _you_ as a daughter.”

“Thanks ever so.”

“Anytime.” He frowned. “Well, then, what was I talking about? I’m pretty sure I remember saying something about blood traitors.”

She looked down the hall, but they seemed to be alone. “Both Albus and Noah seemed to feel very strongly that you shouldn’t be alone with some of the other people you share a dormitory with, and I was wondering why. You started babbling about blood and traitors.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” He gave her an assessing look. “What’s the matter, Red? Shocked that anyone in Slytherin could possibly be considered a blood traitor?”

“I didn’t think that either of you were big on blood purity, you know.”

“You didn’t think anybody actually considered us blood traitors, though, huh?” She shrugged. “Well, they do. Look, Red, I know that you don’t really understand it - probably because you don’t even try to - but there actually are good people in houses that aren’t Gryffindor.” When she opened her mouth, he added, “Or Hufflepuff. Or your cousins.”

“I know that,” she said. “I just think that the other houses are less _brave.”_

“Bravery isn’t the only thing that makes a good person, nor is it as important as you seem to think that it is.”

“My mother—”

He cut her off. “Look, your mother is a war hero. Everyone knows that.” She glowered, and he held up his hands. “No, really, I mean it. She’s a hero, and she’s a good person, and yeah, she’s incredibly brave. My father always talks about her with a lot of respect.”

_“Really?”_

He closed his eyes for a minute. She was clearly trying his patience. “Yes, Red, _really._ And she _deserves_ it. But what are you saying about my father, exactly? That he should have just _died?_ That he _liked_ seeing his classmates tortured and killed?”

Rose wasn’t sure what to say, and for once, she managed to hold her tongue.

“Look, Red, I’m sorry, but whatever you may think of them, _I love my family._ My father did what he had to do to survive. I’m sorry if that doesn’t live up to your Gryffindor standards, but it’s true. And, by the way, in case you forgot, my grandmother lied for your uncle in that last battle.”

Rose had, indeed, forgotten that.

“They did what they had to. They wanted to survive. They wanted my father to survive. And when she saw a way out, she took it.”

“But—”

“Look, I’m not saying that my father’s parents are exactly spearheading muggle rights campaigns. My grandfather was a death eater. I’m not denying that. But they care about their family a hell of a lot more than they care about stupid blood purity. And you know what? If I brought home some muggleborn girl, my parents wouldn’t care, my mother’s parents wouldn’t care, and my father’s parents would bite their tongues because they want me to be happy.” He stopped, breathing hard.

“Sorry.”

He seemed to relax a little. “Ugh. No, _I’m_ sorry. I didn’t come down here to get into an argument with you about Slytherin house and my family.”

“Would you rather get into an argument about looking down my shirt and whether or not you’d rather kiss the giant squid?” she asked. “We could go with that, it’s less awkward.”

He made a face. “How on earth do you find that to be less awkward?”

“Well, for one thing, it’s not a matter of life or death.”

“I don’t know,” he muttered. “I think I’d have to kill myself if I kissed the giant squid.” She giggled, and he looked at her. “Is it the hair again, or what I said?”

“What you said, mostly.”

He sighed. “I said something about the giant squid earlier, didn’t I.”

“Yeah. You said you wouldn’t rather kiss the giant squid after all. I think you also told me that I was better looking than that Zabini girl, but that bit was much harder to follow.”

Scorpius wrinkled his nose. “Of course I did.” He sounded caught between amusement and irritation at himself.

“Is she really that bad looking?” Rose asked. She didn’t really understand why Scorpius was so disgusted by Zabini; she was no Dominique, but she’d never struck Rose as especially ugly.

“Well, she’s flat-chested, her nose looks like she stole it from a toad, she’s got a unibrow, and her hair looks like straw.”

“Oh, so flat-chested girls can’t be pretty?”

“No, I didn’t say that. I mean, look at Lily. She’s pretty.” Rose raised her eyebrows at Scorpius, who looked appalled. “God, don’t look at me like _that._ You know that’s not what I meant. She’s _thirteen.”_

Rose crossed her arms. “Oh, come on, tell me the truth,” she teased. “I bet you found me plenty attractive when _I_ was thirteen.”

She was expecting him to deny it, and was quite surprised when he said, “Well, yeah, but that was different, because I was also thirteen.” He grinned when she couldn’t come up with a response. “If I’d known that it was this easy to shut you up, I’d have started telling you that before now.”

“I’ll get used to it.”

“Probably.” The thought didn’t seem to bother him very much. “Anyway, Zabini’s also just… creepy. Toward the end of last year, she decided that she could seduce me into embracing my pureblood roots.”

_“Really?”_

Scorpius grimaced. “Yeah. It was pretty gross. I was hoping she’d forget about it over the summer, but…”

“Why you and not Noah?”

He considered this. “Probably because she think Noah’s more oblivious than me, since he’s much at ignoring her.” He shrugged. “Or maybe she just likes blonds. I don’t know.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let it swell my head. It’s not much to be told that you’d prefer me to a large nautical creature and a creepy girl with a squashed nose.”

“You know, you’re occasionally almost tolerable.” He glanced at his watch. “I should get back to the common room.”

“Yeah, me too. I’ve got a lot of work to do for tomorrow.” She brushed past him. “Night.”

“Hey, Red?” She looked back. “I’m still going to get you back for this ridiculous hair, even if you _are_ occasionally almost tolerable.”

“Good luck,” she said, touching her necklace.

He hesitated for a moment. “You know, I’d prefer you to a lot of girls. Shame about the personality - otherwise, I’d quite fancy you.” The lights were dim, but from the way his voice wavered, the comment wasn’t quite as off-handed as he’d presumably meant it to be.

“Thanks ever so. ‘Oh no, Rose, I’d totally snog you if you weren’t so unbearable as a person.’ You really know how to make a girl feel special.” His laughter followed her up the stairs, and when she heard his footsteps starting to walk away, she called back down, “Goodnight, Scorpius!”

The footsteps stopped, but she didn’t stick around to see his response.


	9. Surviving to the Weekend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose manages to make it to the weekend and continues to confide in James.
> 
> _“I’d bet galleons that it’s not that simple. I think he’d probably rather kiss you to shut you up than jinx you.”_

To Rose’s relief, the rest of the week was fairly uneventful. Overhearing the conversation between Albus and Scorpius Malfoy - a conversation which she continued to find disconcerting, though by Thursday she had to admit that she’d become as intrigued as she was perplexed - had set the tone for a rather frenzied few days. While Rose enjoyed pranks and general mayhem as much as the next Weasley, the fact remained there were Quidditch practices to make up and assignments that were still only half-done, and that didn’t leave a lot of time for anything else.

James, Roxanne, Lily, and Hugo all ended up with copious amounts of detention, which made Rose and Albus very glad that they hadn’t actually participated in any of it. The only bright side for the three Gryffindors was that they would still probably be able to find time for Quidditch practice, though they might have to sacrifice sleep to do it.

All four maintained that it had been completely worth it.

The Gryffindors only shared with a couple periods with the Slytherins on Thursdays and Fridays, and other than a few sidelong glances on Thursday morning in Transfiguration, Scorpius seemed to be content to ignore her. She didn’t doubt that he had something else up his sleeve, but it seemed to be taking some time to come together, which was really just as well - after the weekend, she’d be caught up on her schoolwork and more able to absorb the time commitment that a prank war with Scorpius Malfoy would undoubtedly require, especially with her partners in crime languishing in detention.

The rain that poured down steadily throughout the afternoon and evening on Friday made their Quidditch practice quite uncomfortable. By the time James finally called it quits, Rose’s clothing was not only plastered to her skin but actively weighing her down; the strong wind had also made her hair a tangled mess. Only her private vow not to complain to James that month in light of his jinx on Scorpius Malfoy - which still showed no signs of fading - kept her from joining Marion and Tyler in their irritation as they trooped back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Rose liked Quidditch very much, but this was just ridiculous.

A long and very warm bath later, she trooped back down to the Common Room, feeling significantly more human than she had when they’d left the pitch.

James and Albus were lounging by the fire. Rose joined them.

“What’s up with them?” she asked James, jerking her head toward Roxanne and Marion. Both girls had already finished washing up and were sitting at the corner table. They appeared to be in deep conversation.

He shrugged. “Who knows?”

The way he avoided her eyes made her suspect that he _did_ know - or, at least, had a decent guess. If he wasn’t going to volunteer it, though, she wasn’t going to push him.

Rose stretched. A sharp ache arched along her back as she did, and she straightened up again, wincing. “My body is so sore, and I’m exhausted. Thank god it’s the weekend.”

The Potter boys nodded their agreement. “Exciting week, though,” James said. “I think I might beat Fred for most detentions by the time I leave. He’ll be so disappointed.”

“You’ve got a ways to go,” Albus pointed out. Unlike the two of them, he did not seem to be favoring any part of his body; Rose supposed that that was what happened when you sat warm and comfortable in Gryffindor tower for three hours rather than on a broom in the pouring rain. “And it’s not a competition.”

James grinned at his brother. “It is if I say it is.”

Albus ignored him. “So,” he said to Rose, with a casual air she immediately could tell he was putting on, “Scorpius barely complained about you yesterday and didn’t even mention you today. When he used the map to find you on Wednesday, he didn’t use it to get you back, right? Because I told him that if he did, I’d find whatever spell James used on his hair and use it again right before Christmas vacation.”

“Wow, Al. That’s harsh. His cousins would mock him all break.”

“That’s the idea.” He glanced at his brother, who had suddenly lost all interest in Roxanne and Marion and was instead directing all of his attention to Albus. “Oh, come on, James. I know it was you. You can own up to it, I won’t write home.”

“You told _Scorpius Malfoy_ about our map?”

“That’s what I said.”

“You let him _use_ our map?”

“That’s also what I said.” James was looking more outraged and appalled by the second, and Albus seemed to decide that it would save him time in the long run to tackle the issue head-on. “Look, James, I know you don’t like him, but he’s one of my best friends. He promised he wouldn’t tell, and I believe him.” James’s expression didn’t change, and Albus’s voice took on an edge of irritation. “Oh, grow up. You’ve told several of your friends. It’s my map, too.”

James ran a hand over his perpetually messy hair. “That’s different.” Albus raised his eyebrows. “It is! They’re trustworthy, and they’re not trying to hex Rose!”

“And I know that Scorpius is trustworthy. I let him use the map to _find_ Rose, not hex her. I was really clear about that.”

“And you thought he’d _listen?”_

Rose hated to defend Scorpius Malfoy, but at that point, she spoke up - the last thing she wanted was for James and Albus to get into a fight, particularly a fight that she had inadvertently caused. “He actually did. He wanted to talk about - well, it doesn’t matter. But he didn’t try to hex me.”

James opened his mouth and closed it again without speaking.

“He’ll never see the map unless it’s in _my_ hands,” Albus promised. “Will you please just calm down?”

James scowled, but couldn’t see to come up with a reasonable response. He glanced back at the girls by the window instead.

Albus took advantage of his brother’s momentary silence to turn to Rose. “What _did_ he want to talk about?”

Rose shifted uncomfortably. She wasn’t quite sure why she was so reticent to share their conversation - it had gotten fairly personal, but there hadn’t been much about it that was _objectionable._ Given that, though, it was odd that Scorpius hadn’t told Albus himself, and if he hadn’t, Rose wasn’t sure that she should. “Didn’t he tell you?”

“Nope. I’ve asked twice, and he changed the topic both times.”

She sighed. “He just wanted to apologize about the blood traitor thing.” James whirled back around, and she hurried to add, “He didn’t call me a blood traitor, James. At all. He was just afraid that he had, because his memories right after dinner were a bit… hazy.”

“That’s… strange,” Albus said. “Why wouldn’t he just tell me that himself?”

Rose shrugged. “I don’t know, Al. He’s your friend. Maybe he was just embarrassed that he gave half a thought to my feelings.”

James was looking thoughtful but wisely held his tongue. Rose hoped Albus would head up to bed first - otherwise, the suspense would probably kill her.

As it transpired, Albus _did_ go to bed first, though judging from James’s drooping eyelids and steadily decreasing participation in the conversation, Rose suspected that he was hanging around specifically to talk about Scorpius, and otherwise would have gone upstairs a long time ago.

After Albus vanished into the stairwell, Rose waited to hear the faint click of his door open and close before turning to James. “So?”

He rubbed his eyes. “Give me a second to wake up.”

Rose managed to keep her mouth shut, though with great difficulty. After a minute, her cousin threw back his head and laughed. “You look like there are fire ants crawling all over the couch. Calm down. I don’t have anything earth shattering to say.”

“But you do have something.”

“Well, yeah.” Now he was clearly just teasing her - there was a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth as he watched her. After a pause that lasted far longer than it really needed to, he took pity on her. “Merlin, Rose, that boy really _does_ want to sleep with you.”

She felt her face get hot.

“Sorry,” James said. “I know it’s kind of awkward when I put it that way, but there’s not really another way to put it that’s not deceptively delicate.”

Sometimes Rose forgot that James was actually quite smart. It tended to come out most in one-on-one talks like this, or sometimes when the two of them were with Albus. It made her wonder how much of the personality they saw the rest of the time was him playing to an audience.

“I don’t mean it’s something he thinks idly about when he’s bored in class or just has weird creepy little Slytherin dreams about. I mean that he genuinely wants to - well, I’m not sure what, exactly, and I’d bet that he isn’t either, but he definitely wants to have his hands all over you, and on a regular basis.”

“So he’s trying to _manipulate_ me by apologizing?”

James made a face; she wasn’t sure whether it was at her tone or her words. “Much as I hate to defend Scorpius Malfoy, I’m not sure that’s really fair. He’s fifteen and a Slytherin, not a conniving monster. I don’t think he’s really trying to _manipulate_ you - he just wants you to not hate him.”

“He doesn’t even _like_ me.”

“I’d bet galleons that it’s not that simple. Rose, that boy is not acting like someone who straight up hates you. I don’t doubt that he finds you annoying as hell - I just think he’d probably rather kiss you to shut you up than jinx you.”

When Rose came downstairs the next morning, it was still early; she’d slept fitfully, and though she knew she’d probably need to take a nap that afternoon, she’d gotten up when she heard the birds chirping rather than lay in bed another hour trying to fall back asleep.

She’d been reading on the couch for about an hour when Alex emerged from the staircase. She greeted him with a smile. “Is Albus up yet?”

“Yeah, he should be down in a minute.” Alex sat down next to her and cleared his throat. “Er - I was wondering. Would you maybe be interested in going to Hogsmeade with me? The first Hogsmeade weekend, I mean?”

Rose looked up from her book. “Oh, sorry - I’m probably going to be spending most of the day with my family. I’m find time to hang out with you guys next time, though, I promise.”

“Right,” he responded. He looked a little disappointed, though she could not for the life of her understand why.

“Hey, Rose!” Albus had reached the foot of the stairs. “Let’s go to breakfast, I’m starving!”

Rose joined him. Her stomach was growling, too.

She surreptitiously checked the map throughout the day; her conversation with James the night before had left her very curious about what else Scorpius Malfoy might be saying. To her disappointment, he spent most the day alone in his dormitory, and when he left, it was only to join his cousins in the Slytherin Common Room.

Rose caught herself wondering whether he’d slept in or had just been reading all day. Then her conversations with James on the subject of Scorpius Malfoy came back to her, and she wondered what Scorpius was thinking about if he _was_ awake. _That_ made her face get warm again.

All of these thoughts were almost immediately followed by a realization that knowing where he’d spent his day was really quite creepy. By that point, her face was so red that Albus, who she was studying with in the Gryffindor Common Room, asked her what was wrong.

She didn’t have time to touch the map again until after Quidditch practice the next day, and by that point, she already knew perfectly well where Scorpius was, because Albus had told her that they were going to go hang out by the lake. The idea of intentionally eavesdropping on her cousin _did_ bother her conscience enough that she decided to stay in and play chess with Damien and Colleen. By the time she remembered the map again, dinner had come and gone, and most of the students had returned to their common rooms for the night.

Maybe she’d have better luck during the week.


	10. Scorpius's Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose finds herself hysterical after spending a free period with Albus and Scorpius.
> 
> _“We are_ not _having this discussion. And you lied to me.”_

Rose’s Mondays were usually very busy; she had six classes, no free periods, and James subscribed to the idea that the best way to start a week was with Quidditch practice. Since he, Roxanne, and Lily still had detention after dinner every day for the next week, he’d booked the pitch for a short practice immediately after they finished with lessons for the day.

Rose fought the impulse to complain: she saw Scorpius in Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic that day, and the red that still stained his hair hadn’t begun to fade yet.

“How long is the hair going to last?” she asked her cousin as they pulled on their Quidditch gear.

He grinned. “At least another week. It’ll probably start fading to orange soon, though that might actually look worse.”

When Rose got to History of Magic the next morning, she was pleased to see that James was right: Scorpius’s hair was indeed starting look more orange than red. Her cousin was also right that it looked worse. The Slytherin boy clearly shared their opinion; he responded to Rose’s cheerful hello with an irritated grunt, although a glare from Albus persuaded him to attempt a smile.

Rose had two and a half hours free between lunch and her final class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts. She suspected she’d wish her free time was spread out a little more evenly across the rest of the week by the end of the year, but for now, she was enjoying her quiet and restful Tuesday afternoons.

After parting ways with Albus and Damien, who had Muggle Studies right after lunch, she headed straight for the Room of Requirement. If she went to her dormitory, she’d have a hard time motivating herself to leave it for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and she wanted peace and quiet - even at midday, the comfortable seats in the library would probably have already been claimed by sixth and seventh years.

When she pulled open the newly-appeared door, Rose found herself in a familiar and cozy little room. There were several chairs remarkably similar to those in the Gryffindor common room, and on the table next to one of the chairs was a cup of black tea. The steam was rising out of the cup, and she fell back into the chair, enjoying the solitude.

She’d been sitting there for about ten minutes, enjoying her tea and her book, when the door opened. Thankfully, she’d had enough to drink that the liquid didn’t slosh over the rim when she jumped.

“I thought you’d be here,” Albus said. Scorpius appeared behind him.

Rose set her tea down. “Don’t you have Muggle Studies and Divination?” 

Her cousin shrugged. “We thought we’d make good use of those snackboxes Fred sent.”

“Maybe I wanted to be _alone.”_

Albus sat down across from her. “Oh, come on, if you _really_ didn’t want company, you wouldn’t have conjured up all these chairs.

Scorpius, who clearly had very few memories of his first time in the room the week before, was pacing the room. “Is this really what it looked like before? I remember it being bigger.”

“Well, no, not _now,_ because it turns into what you want. Rose wanted her cozy little room and some black tea.”

Scorpius looked at her. “This is a frequent thing for you?” She shrugged. “Guess being an overachiever isn’t easy. So, it could turn into other things?” Albus nodded. “Huh. Hey, is this wall singed over here, or is that just me?”

“No.” Albus was watching his friend explore the room with some amusement. “It’s always been singed, no matter what the room looks like, but we have no idea where it came from.”

“Ah.” He continued prowling around the room, clearly very interested despite the fact that in this particular state, the room itself was not very interesting.

Albus snapped his fingers. “Oh, hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you - did Alex end up asking you to go to Hogsmeade with him for our first weekend? I heard him talking to Damien about it last week, but I keep forgetting to ask you.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Scorpius’s head snap over to stare in their direction, and her faith in James’s analysis of the situation increased. When he noticed her glancing at him, he resumed prowling the room, but she could tell he was listening very closely.

“Yeah,” she said. “So?”

“Well, what did you say? I’m just curious.”

“I said I was busy with you guys, but I’d hang out with them next time. What?”

Albus was staring at her as though she had just said something very ludicrous, and she heard a snort of laughter from Scorpius. “You do realize what he was asking you, right?” her cousin asked with exaggerated patience. She shrugged. “Rosie, did he actually say ‘us,’ or did he say ‘me’?”

“‘Me,’ I think. So?” Both boys were staring at her, and suddenly the pieces fell into place. “Oh! He was asking me out?”

Albus looked beseechingly up at the ceiling.

For his part, Scorpius circled back around and sunk into a chair next to Albus. “You know something, Red? I owe you an apology.” She and Albus must have both looked startled, because he added, “Maybe you’re too thick to be guilty of half of the stuff I’ve accused you of.”

Rose glared at him, feeling a flush spread across her face. “It’s not a big deal. I wouldn’t have said yes anyway.”

“Why not?” asked Scorpius.

Albus was looking as though his friend’s participation was not somewhere he had really intended the conversation to go.

“I’m just not interested,” she said.

“What, so you’re too good for anyone in this school?” Scorpius asked.

Albus shifted in his chair, looking even more uncomfortable, but as he opened his mouth to say something, Rose said, “No, I’m just not interested in Alex Finnigan.”

“Well, then, who _are_ you interested in?” 

Albus reached out to smack his friend’s arm. From the sound, the contact had been a little harder than Rose thought was probably necessary. “We are _not_ having this discussion.”

“Why not?” Scorpius asked.

“Because we aren’t,” Albus said. “And you lied to me.”

Scorpius had suddenly became very interested in the red throw rug in from of his chair. “It wasn’t a lie, exactly.”

Albus sighed. “I hate you both sometimes, you know that?”

Rose picked up her mug again. She was definitely going to have to find an opportunity to eavesdrop on Scorpius again - her curiosity about what exactly the Slytherin thought of her was growing.

By the time Rose had finished her tea, Albus and Scorpius had exhausted their stock of complaints about Binns and started in again on Noah, who had apparently convinced them to take Divination two years before.

She got up, feeling significantly more energetic than she had when she’d entered the room. “We should get to Defense Against the Dark Arts,” she told Albus.

Scorpius had his head cocked to the side and was scrutinizing her. When she tried to stare him down, he smiled and looked away.

Rose frowned. He had a good profile. She had the strangest feeling of déjà vu, but she couldn’t recall a time that she’d had reason to notice Scorpius’s profile before.

When they reached the staircase, Rose felt the caffeine from the tea hit her. She’d tried to avoid drinking enough quickly enough to give her the jitters, but she obviously hadn’t been very successful – she was positively giddy.

Scorpius continued on down the stairs after she and Albus turned off at the first floor. The sight of the bright lights glinting off his orange hair made her giggle. Albus didn’t seem to find it anywhere near as amusing as she did, but Albus could be a bit of a spoilsport sometimes.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of Rose’s favorite classes, and not much phased her at this point. Today, though, she caught her breath as she and Albus slid into their seats.

Professor Goldstein, who was standing at the front of the classroom, had his wand trained on a silvery hawk that was soaring around the classroom. After a few moments of everyone watching the hawk’s path, he lowered his wand. The hawk faded away.

He looked down at the class, who were all staring at him, completely transfixed. Professor Goldstein had rarely needed to call any class Rose had ever had with him to order; his lessons tended to be so exciting that no one wanted to miss a moment of them.

“The Patronus Charm,” he said, and several people let out excited “ooo”s. “Now, that’s typically N.E.W.T. standard, but some of you will be done with Defense Against the Dark Arts at the end of this year, and I don’t want to send any student out there who can’t defend against a dementor attack.”

The class was listening raptly. Dementors were bad news, and everyone knew it. The class had covered dementors at the end of the previous school year, and Goldstein had mentioned the Patronus Charm then. Everyone had been very disappointed when they realised that they wouldn’t be learning it.

Rose remembered overhearing Victoire talking to her uncle Harry over the summer about increases in dementor attacks. Rose wondered if that spike had inspired this, or if it was just something Goldstein had always done.

She felt excitement building. She’d always wanted to learn to create a Patronus.

“Now,” Professor Goldstein asked, “who can tell me what a Patronus is?”

Rose shot her hand in the air.

“Ms. Weasley?”

“It’s a protector. It shields you from the dementors, and if it’s powerful enough, it can force them away.”

“Excellent. Five points to Gryffindor. What form does a Patronus take?”

Rose raised her hand again, but this time, Daniel was quicker.

“Mr. Macmillan?”

“The form of a corporeal Patronus is unique and based on the wizard who conjured it,” he said.

“Exactly. Take five points for Hufflepuff. A corporeal Patronus has the ability to force dementors away. An incorporeal Patronus, which is where every wizard starts, may hold dementors at bay for a time, but only for a time.” He surveyed the class, and asked, “What conditions may make it more difficult to produce a Patronus?” Natalia thrust her hand in the air. “Ms. Jordan?”

“The more dementors there are, the more difficult it is to conjure a Patronus.”

“Precisely. Five more points to Hufflepuff. You’ll be learning to cast this charm without any dementors, and you should keep that in mind. What else? Mr. Finnigan?”

“Well, it’s sort of like Natalia said, but your emotions. If you’re unhappy in the first place, it’s harder to produce one.”

“Another five to Gryffindor. Why is that?” Albus put his hand up. “Mr. Potter?”

“Well, to conjure a Patronus, you need to have a happy memory,” Albus said. “If you’re already feeling sad about something, you’re going to have a harder time finding one.”

“Five more points to Gryffindor.” Goldstein paused and surveyed the class. His face was serious. “I want you all to think for a few moments. Find a happy memory, a strong one. You need a powerful memory to produce a Patronus in the first place, let alone fight off dementors.”

Rose looked around at her classmates, who were clearly deep in thought.

The elation was building in her. She wanted to get to the spell. She knew that if Goldstein would just let them try to cast it already, she would be able to. She had happy memories. She had a million happy memories. Her exhaustion had faded away. She was ready.

After a few minutes - all of which she spent fidgeting - Goldstein clapped his hands. “I hope you all have a happy memory. If you don’t manage anything today, don’t get discouraged; this is highly advanced magic, and it can be very difficult to master.”

He made them repeat the incantation after him several times, and then told them they could start practicing. As he headed toward Colleen and Daniel, who were muttering the incantation and getting nothing, Rose raised her wand.

She thought of her fifteenth birthday party, and being surrounded by the people she loved. She thought of their smiles and the homemade cake, and of the little gifts that had all clearly been chosen so carefully, and she felt her eyes tear up. Her body was tingling; it was all she could do to keep from laughing.

“Expecto Patronum!” she cried, and an enormous shape blossomed from the tip of her wand.

“Excellent, Ms. Weasley!” Goldstein called from across the room. “Twenty points for Gryffindor.”

Rose waved her wand, and the silvery threads of the animal flew through the air. As she watched its progress, she could feel the laugh building inside her again. She was unable to quell it, and it quickly became hysterical. As she sank onto the seat, the Patronus vanished.

“Rose?” Albus put his hand on her shoulder. “Rose, are you okay?”

She wanted to get up, to hug him, to tell him he was one of the best people ever. She wanted to find Hugo and Lily and James and Roxanne and tell them that. She wanted to learn how to apparate and tell her parents and Fred and Dominique and all of her aunts and uncles and grandparents how much she loved them. She even wanted to track down Scorpius and tell him that without the red hair, he was actually quite attractive, especially when he wasn’t sneering. She was feeling uncharacteristically and indiscriminately magnanimous.

The only trouble with all of those plans was that she couldn’t stop laughing.

She was vaguely aware of Goldstein saying something, and then of Albus leading her toward the hospital wing. Once there, she collapsed into a bed, and Madam Byrd bustled out.

“Madam Byrd,” she heard Albus say quickly, “we were in class, and she was fine, and then suddenly she was… well, like this.”

Madam Byrd bent over her. “Do you know what she’s had to eat today?”

Albus sounded a little taken aback. “Um… I don’t know. Full breakfast. Full lunch. A few cups of tea before class.”

Madam Byrd dismissed that out of hand. “No, tea wouldn’t do this.” She pointed toward the door. “Out. I’ll sort her out, don’t worry. She’ll be fine.”

Albus hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said, striding away from Rose. She heard a muffled conversation, and then Madam Byrd bent over her again, a goblet in her hand. “Can you drink this?” she asked.

Though Rose was still giggling uncontrollably, she managed to force some of the potion down. She could feel her eyes start to get heavy almost immediately, and she quickly drifted into unconsciousness.


	11. The Hospital Wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose is forced to spend an entire day in the hospital wing.
> 
> _“You know, Red, you talk a lot about how I want to kiss you. Why are you so focused on that, exactly?”_

When Rose woke up the next day, she felt extremely disoriented. This was not the first time she’d woken up in the hospital wing, but it was the first time that she could not quite remember how she’d gotten there. She had vague memories of Albus taking her there from Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she had no idea if those memories were accurate. She didn’t even know what day it was.

Most people would assume that it had been one day, but Rose knew better. She’d spent three days passed out in the hospital wing after a nasty fall from her broomstick in her third year, and Roxanne had once been in the hospital wing for nearly two weeks with a concussion, most of which she had no memory of.

Madam Byrd walked out of her office. “What day is today?” Rose demanded.

“Wednesday,” Madam Byrd said shortly. She disliked engaging Rose in conversations about the duration of her stay in the hospital wing, because she and Rose always seemed to have very different opinions on what constituted “enough time.”

“How long was I out for?” she asked cautiously.

“No longer than you needed,” Madam Byrd told her.

Rose tried to quell her growing panic, but she was fighting a losing battle. Just as she was beginning to really lose it, however, the door opened and Albus stuck his head in. “I won’t upset her, I promise,” he said. Madam Byrd gave him a penetrating look, and then walked back into her office.

He came over and sat down next to the bed, and she grabbed his arm. “Al! How long have I been out for?”

“Less than a day. You’re feeling better, then?”

The sight of her cousin’s red hair brought the rest of her memories flooding back, and she gasped. “That _bastard!”_

Al looked lost. “What?”

“He put something in my tea!” Rose was livid. Albus glanced nervously toward Madam Byrd’s open door and tried to shush her. “I was too tired,” she said in a lowered voice. “I wasn’t paying attention, he was wandering all over the room, he was behind me at some point, and he _slipped something in my tea!”_

Her voice had gotten both higher and louder again. “Rosie, keep it down,” he said, his voice soft.

_“He put something in my tea!”_ She did not understand how Albus was not reacting more strongly to this fact.

He rubbed his forehead. “Probably. I wasn’t thinking about it, either, if that makes you feel any better.”

“He _poisoned_ me.” Rose actually looked around for her wand, though she had no idea what she was planning to do with it, given that Scorpius was not actually present and that there was no way in hell that Madam Byrd would let her leave the hospital wing yet.

He cousin rolled his eyes. “Now you’re just being melodramatic. He did not _poison_ you.”

In Rose’s opinion, that was a very charitable interpretation of the events that had transpired. She sniffed. “That _bastard.”_

After about ten minutes, Albus excused himself to go get lunch before his afternoon classes. A few minutes after he left, the door opened again, and Scorpius walked in. He looked very pleased with himself.

“I just saw Al go down the stairs,” he said, sitting down in the chair her cousin had vacated. “How are you feeling? Everyone said you went hysterical yesterday.” He shook his head in mock disapproval and actually patted her hand. “Too much caffeine, Red.”

She snatched it away. “You _bastard,”_ she hissed angrily. “You put something in my tea!”

He looked like he was trying to hide a smirk, but his attempt failed miserably. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That tea must have been really strong.”

“I was relaxing! That wasn’t fair!”

The sun streaming in the window glinted when it touched his hair. It had faded a little more overnight, but the orange was still quite distinctive. Rose would have smiled if there hadn’t been a much more pressing matter at hand. “Well, I told you I’d get you back.”

Rose glared at him. “What was it?”

“What was what?” She leaned forward, trying very hard to stop herself from grabbing his collar. His grey eyes met her blue ones, and something about his smile made a not-unpleasant shiver run up her spine. She felt herself lick her lips and sat back quickly, feeling distinctly off-kilter. “An elixir to induce euphoria,” Scorpius said. If he’d noticed her discomfort, he was ignoring it - for the moment, anyway.

“But that’s N.E.W.T. standard.” She doubted whether even _Roxanne_ could have brewed that potion yet, and Potions was probably Roxanne’s best subject.

“Well, I’m not stupid, Red.”

She hadn’t thought that he was stupid in the first place, just annoying, but if he had truly brewed an elixir to induce euphoria, she’d have to tread even more warily around him in the future than she’d thought. She hadn’t realized that he was quite _that_ smart.

“It took awhile to take effect,” she said. “Why?”

“I wanted to be off having an alibi.” She caught her breath, ready to start yelling at him, Madam Byrd be damned. He hastened to add, “If you put in a few drops of syrup of hellebore, it delays the effects.”

“Oh. I guess that was smart,” she admitted grudgingly.

“Almost _cunning,_ wouldn’t you say?” He was still looking entirely too pleased with himself, and she told him so. His mouth broadened into a grin. “Hey, be nice. Goldstein said in class today that you made a Patronus.”

“I _did?”_

He laughed. “Yeah. Apparently, being on the verge of hysteria _does_ make it easier. I told him after class that I’d heard you been given an Elixir to Induce Euphoria, and he said that while it would certainly would make conjuring a Patronus easier, he didn’t really recommend it in case of a dementor attack because you’re likely to be unable to think straight afterward and they’d just come back and suck your soul out anyway.” 

“So, what you’re telling me is, I was the first in our year to conjure a Patronus and I can’t even take credit for it because you gave me a stupid potion?” she snapped, her disgust with him deepening.

“Well…” He drew the word out. “Goldstein also said that even with the elixir, it was impressive that you’d managed a corporeal one on your first day.”

Madam Byrd came out of her room and shot Scorpius a glare. “This girl needs rest. She’s not going to get it if she keeps getting visitors.”

“I’m really fine,” Rose said. “I think I might go to class, actually.” She threw back the sheets and made to get out of bed, though she knew Madam Byrd would never let her go.

Sure enough, the witch rushed over. “No, you will _not._ You will stay here and rest.”

Rose looked mutinous, and Scorpius leaned over. “Oh, c’mon, Red,” he murmured. “Just take the day off. Don’t waste your time, she’s not going to let you go, anyway.”

She sank back into her pillows, and Madam Byrd looked mollified. “Five minutes,” she warned Scorpius before going back to her office.

“I hate you,” Rose said, though her voice lacked conviction.

He smiled. She tried not to look at his lips, though something about her mood since he’d walked in was making it very difficult. “Yeah, I believe that. Look,” he said, leaning forward, “you really _were_ exhausted. You’re not just here because of that potion. Come on, Rose, how much had you slept the last few nights?”

His use of her actual name made her stomach lurch, and now she was pretty sure he was doing all of it on purpose to throw her off. She supposed she probably deserved at least some of it, but still, she really didn’t appreciate it.

“Not much,” she admitted. “I haven’t been sleeping well, and I had a lot of work to get done. I’ve been a little distracted with a couple books I took out from the library last week.”

“Yeah. I thought so. Believe it or not, I did _not_ intend to put you in the hospital wing.”

She looked into his eyes suspiciously. Either he was a very good liar, which was always a possibility, especially with a Slytherin, or he was telling the truth. Either way, there was nothing to be gained from arguing with him. “Fine.”

He held her gaze, and after a moment, Rose looked away. Those eyes were far too disconcerting. “Just relax,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll let you out tonight.”

“She’d better. If I miss more lessons, I’ll turn your entire _body red._ I’ll turn you into a _snail.”_ She thought for a moment. “I’ll feed you to the giant squid.”

“But I don’t want to be fed to the giant squid.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Rose finally saw an opportunity to regain the upper hand. “You’d much rather kiss me, wouldn’t you?”

Scorpius leaned in a little closer than Rose would have liked. He spoke softly, but she caught every word without straining. “You know, Red, you talk a lot about how I want to kiss you. Why are you so focused on that, exactly?” Rose felt her face get hot, and she had a sinking feeling that she had not regained the upper hand at all. He saved her from having to find an answer by kissing her cheek. “Just curious,” he murmured in her ear. “Feel better, Rose.” He straightened up. “You know, it’s nice to end an interaction with you and have _your_ face be bright red, not mine.”

When the door closed behind him, Madam Byrd emerged, and Rose drank the goblet she was carrying without a fuss. At this moment, sleep was preferable to dealing with what Scorpius Malfoy had said - or, worse, speculating what his kiss meant.

Rose awoke a few hours later to the sound a very familiar voice at the door to the Hospital Wing. When Madam Byrd tried to convince him to leave Rose to rest, James cited his deep devotion to family and begged that he be able to come in for just a minute.

Rose very much doubted that he would only be a minute, but after another minute, Madam Byrd relented. Before she retreated to her office, and reminded James again that he really shouldn’t stay too long, since Rose needed _rest._

James pointed his wand toward the ajar door as soon as she’d closed it behind her and muttered something. When she frowned at him, he smiled and pocketed the wand.

“Just a little spell to give us some privacy. Has anyone else visited you today?”

“Yeah. Albus during lunch for a bit, and Malfoy stopped in for a couple minutes. I think he wanted to gloat.”

“Ah. So is _was_ him?”

She wrinkled her nose. “With a potion. Stupid git.”

“Want us to help you feed him to the giant squid?”

Memories of all the times Scorpius Malfoy had invoked the giant squid recently made her giggle. She stopped abruptly when she remembered what had happened the last time it had come up in a conversation between them. “No, it’s okay. If we get into a prank war, Albus is just going to get annoyed, so maybe we’d better just call a ceasefire. For now.”

He shrugged. “Fair enough, Anyway, it’ll be awhile until that red fades away completely.” The memory of his lips pressed against her cheek made her stomach turn over again - they’d been very soft - and she let out a loud groan as she fell back against the pillows. James looked startled. “Rosie, what on earth?”

“He sort of kissed me.”

James whistled and sat back in his chair. “What, today?” She nodded. “Ah. But this ceasefire you want to call is entirely for Albus’s sake, of course.”

“Naturally.” She started to run her fingers through her hair, but gave up almost immediately. It was hopelessly tangled. It occurred to her that she rather wished Scorpius hadn’t seen her like that — though it hadn’t stopped him kissing her, had it? “Can I borrow the cloak tonight, if she lets me out?”

A grin played across his mouth; James really couldn’t be serious for very long. “Sure. Planning some more eavesdropping?”

“Maybe.” She felt a smile spreading across her lips, too.

“I can’t believe you’re going for a _Slytherin.”_ He shook his head. “I’m kind of grossed out. I should get you disowned from the family.”

Rose decided not to quibble over whether she was ‘going’ for anyone - she had a feeling that it wouldn’t end well.

Madam Byrd seemed satisfied that Rose really was going to be fine, but it was still well after six by the time she let the the Gryffindor leave. By that time, James and Roxanne had already reported to detention, but Albus came by after dinner to keep her company and make sure that the nurse would actually let Rose leave. Feigning exhaustion, Rose retired to her dormitory shortly after they got back to the Common Room, hoping that her cousins had remembered to leave her the cloak. To her relief, Roxanne had left the cloak in an inconspicuous bag on her bed before reporting to Professor Dorny.

Glad that she was alone in her dormitory for the moment, Rose threw it over herself and made her way down the stairs.


	12. Eavesdropping in the Corridor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose does a little more eavesdropping.
> 
> _"She could be head over heels for a guy and make him sprout tentacles or something if she got annoyed at him.”_

Rose knew that Scorpius was unlikely to be brooding about the kiss he’d given her that afternoon - it had only been on the cheek, after all, and she suspected he’d only done it to get her off-balance.

She also knew that even if he _was_ brooding, he would be unlikely to actually talk about it. That seemed to be a Slytherin thing - they were so obnoxiously _deliberate_ about everything.

But unlike Albus’s Slytherin friends, Rose was often ruled by her instinct, and right now, her instinct was telling her to eavesdrop.

When she entered the library, she saw Scorpius and Noah sitting at a table by the window. Thanking her lucky stars that they were out of the way of foot traffic - being invisible didn’t make her intangible, after all - she carefully made her way over to them.

The boys worked in silence for a few minutes. Just as Rose was beginning to feel both embarrassed to be watching them so intently and bored of the monotony, however, Scorpius put an assignment aside and Noah looked up. “You’re done with Potions already?” he asked in surprise.

Rose thought that Scorpius looked a little uncomfortable. “Yes.”

“Impressive.” Noah glanced up at the large clock hanging on the wall. “It’s not even eight, and you’re done with Transfiguration, Charms, Muggle Studies, _and_ Potions? I should bother you about things you don’t want to talk about more often.”

“My marks are fine, thanks,” Scorpius told him. “I’d better finish up that drawing of bowtruckles, though. I think we’re finishing them on Friday.”

As Scorpius started rifling through his papers, Noah lowered his voice. “Did you give Rose Weasley something that put her in the hospital wing?”

Scorpius yanked out his drawing so violently that it ripped. “It wasn’t supposed to. It was just supposed to make her a little loopy. I don’t know what went wrong.” He tapped the parchment with his wand to mend the tear. “I _think_ she was just tired.”

“Well, I guess now you’re even, and you can start avoiding her like the plague?”

To Rose’s interest, Scorpius’s face seemed to tighten a little. “Guess so.”

“How’d she look today?”

Scorpius didn’t answer, and after a moment, his cousin looked back up. “Nice try,” Scorpius said.

Noah didn’t exactly smile, but Rose could see the corner of his mouth twitching. “It worked. If you hadn’t seen her, you would have said, ‘How would I know?’”

Scorpius exhaled loudly and gave his cousin a very dirty look. “Yeah. I guess it did.” He looked down at his drawing. “She was fine. Angry at first, but fine.” He put his quill on the paper, but before he’d added anything to the sketch, he looked up again. “You know Alex Finnigan asked her out? For the first Hogsmeade weekend?”

From his shrug, Noah didn’t seem to find this information anywhere near as interesting as Scorpius did. “I didn’t, but it doesn’t shock me. She’s a popular girl. Were you expecting people to not ask her out?”

“But she’s so _arrogant.”_ Scorpius scowled at the parchment in front of him.

“Mm.” Rose thought that she could see the hint of a smile on Noah’s lips as he jotted something down.

“I bet she’s going to say yes to him next time. Or there’s somebody else. She’s been using some new potion on her hair, you know.”

Rose had no idea how Scorpius Malfoy could have possibly known that, but the fact that he’d been paying such close attention made her feel a little less creepy about standing three feet away from them listening in on their conversation.

“I didn’t know, no. I don’t pay such close attention to Rose Weasley’s hair. Did you notice because you spend too much time looking at her hair, or do you get close enough to _smell_ her hair on a regular basis? Because Scorpius, both of those things are pretty creepy.”

Scorpius studied his drawing in silence for a moment. His orange hair flopped into his eyes, and he blew it back. “So you don’t think she’s pretty?” he asked finally.

Noah shrugged. “No, I think she’s very pretty. I just tend to avoid crushing on the same girl my cousin is, and you’ve been weird about her for years.”

From the flush spreading across Scorpius’s cheeks, Rose gathered that what Noah was saying was more or less the truth. She carefully boosted herself up to sit on the table near them, thanking her lucky stars that she’d come to the library in time to hear this. She would have liked to tell Scorpius off for dismissing _instinct_ so easily, but given the details of the situation, she suspected she’d just have to let this one lie.

“She drives me _insane,”_ Scorpius snapped.

“Yeah, well, they must not be mutually exclusive, then.”

“They should be.” Scorpius let his head drop onto the table and let out a groan that was loud enough to attract attention from several tables over. He lowered his voice but otherwise ignored it. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

Noah put down his quill. “I think that the two of you rub each other the wrong way, and you don’t help things by baiting her. I have _never_ managed to get into a fight with her, so how you manage it regularly is beyond me. But I also know you well enough to tell that you’re really, really into her. You used to hide it better, but this year… not so much.”

“She has a pretty face—” 

Noah cut him off. “Don’t give me that,” he said. “For one thing, you’re not just staring at her _face._ Don’t try to sanitize it - Albus isn’t here.” 

Scorpius’s face got even redder. “No,” he admitted. “I’m not.” The boy scuffed his foot across the library floor. “But if she hadn’t come to the library a couple weeks ago—”

Once again, Noah didn’t let him finish. “If you’re going to lie to me, at least do a better job of it than that. This didn’t start when she came to the library.” He let out a disgusted snort. “Merlin, Scorpius, give me _some_ credit.”

Scorpius didn’t hold his gaze.

“Don’t tell me you’re not half hoping for her to retaliate so you can keep talking to her.”

“It’s just that I kind it amusing.” He still refused to meet his cousin’s eyes.

“Yeah, you’ve been finding that red hair really amusing,” Noah said sarcastically. “And I’m sure whatever she thinks of next will be worse.” He ran a hand through his own short-cropped hair, which was significantly darker than his cousin’s. “You know, Scorpius, you can’t gauge how she feels about you by the way she retaliates.”

Scorpius was starting to look like he wished he was doing his care of magical creatures drawing. Rose would have felt bad for him if she wasn’t so interested in what he to say next, though she wasn’t at all sure what she would do about it. “I know. She could be head over heels for a guy and make him sprout tentacles or something if she got annoyed at him.” He groaned again, though this time he managed to do it quietly enough that no one at other tables shushed him, and put his head in his hands. “Noah, this is really annoying.”

“You know, if you really _do_ dislike her that much, you should just avoid her.”

“I don’t, really, I don’t think.” Scorpius’s voice was muffled. “I just don’t know how much I like her.”

Rose wasn’t sure whether she was seeing pity or sympathy on Noah’s face. Maybe it was a little of both. “Do you have any idea how she feels about you?”

“No,” Scorpius said, “other than the fact that she likes rubbing my nose in my being attracted to her. I really _should_ figure that out.” He looked thoughtful. “Though she did get really red when I - er - oh, well, I kind of kissed her when I saw her in the Hospital Wing. Maybe I should have mentioned that.”

Noah goggled at him. “Yeah, next time, maybe _start_ with that. You idiot.”

“Well, I wasn’t _planning_ on it, but she kept biting her lips and looking at mine, and… well… it seemed like a good idea at the time.” Noah’s look of incredulity hadn’t faded in the slightest, so Scorpius added, “And it was just on the cheek!”

His cousin shook his head. “Good job digging yourself in an even deeper hole. Just so we’re clear, though, that _doesn’t_ mean you get to keep on with the jealous jerk routine every time I spend a couple hours working on Arithmancy or whatever with her. If you do, I might actually have to smack you - I can’t believe she hasn’t noticed you glaring at me.”

A piece of the puzzle clicked into place for Rose. She _had_ noticed Scorpius glaring at Noah - she’d just assumed it was because he _didn’t_ like her, not because he did.

Scorpius, at least, had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Noted. Er - sorry.” He glanced around the library. “Um - so you’re going to think I’m really paranoid, but I don’t want to talk about her again unless we’re in our common room.”

_“Why?_ I understand that she has a lot of cousins and I get that she knows secret passages, but we would be able to see her if she was here. She’s not.”

“Well, not _now,”_ Scorpius conceded. “She’s probably only just gotten out of the hospital wing. But I think she has an invisibility cloak.”

Noah leaned back in his seat and regarded his cousin with genuine concern. “You’re right,” he said flatly. “I think you’re paranoid. Do you have any idea how rare those things are? Who's going to give one to a fifteen-year old?”

“Yes, I do. But she and Al got really tense at one point when I mentioned them then changed the subject.”

“I think you’re being paranoid,” Noah repeated. “But fine. Look, I _thought_ I wouldn’t have to say this to you, but don’t do anything rash.”

“Eventually she’ll say yes to someone.”

“Yeah, but do you really want her to say no to you? You’d never live it down, and it’s not like you can just avoid her.”

“Fair point.” Scorpius looked a little disappointed.

They went back to their work, and Rose turned and left, mulling over the conversation on her way back to the common room. She checked the map to make sure there was no one nearby, pulled off the cloak, muttered “Mischief managed,” and stowed them both in her bag. To her relief, Albus had retreated to his dormitory by the time she got to the Common Room, so there was no one to stop her when she climbed through the portrait hole and headed upstairs.

Scorpius was uncharacteristically quiet in Transfiguration the next day, which as far as Rose was concerned was all to the best. She still wasn’t sure what she wanted from him, which meant that she wasn’t sure what to say to him, either. Thankfully, she didn’t see him again that day; her Thursdays were generally busy, particularly with the Quidditch practice James had scheduled before dinner, and she had more than enough schoolwork to do.

When she settled into her favorite chair in the Gryffindor Common Room with her books that night, she told herself that she wasn’t avoiding the library for any particular reason, but she knew that she was lying to herself, especially after it took her double the time to finish her work that it usually did. By the time she was putting her books away, her cousins had returned from detention and opened their books. She bid them good night and trudged up the stairs to her dormitory, suspecting that she was in for another night of interrupted sleep.

Rose awoke with a start in the early morning hours, her heart pounding in her ears. Rubbing her eyes did not distance her as much as she might have hoped the very, very vivid dream she’d just had; when she closed them, she could almost feel Scorpius’s fingers trailing down her back again while he brushed his lips along the curve of her neck.

She fell back onto her bed, covered her face with a pillow, and let out a groan. Just now, she would have loved to jinx him - annoying and self-assured Slytherin that he was - to within an inch of his life.

Or at least his sanity. He seemed to be driving hers away far too quickly for comfort.

Though the memories of her dream had faded by the time she woke up that morning, they hadn’t dissipated completely, and she was more than a little worried that she would end up embarrassing herself when she saw Scorpius at Care of Magical Creatures, which she had immediately after breakfast. She took longer than usual to get ready, trying to at least bury the dream deep enough that she wouldn’t blush when she looked at him. It really was very disconcerting.

She felt like she’d been reasonably successful; she and Natalia sat near Scorpius, Albus, and Damien, and though Rose felt a twinge in her stomach when she looked at the Slytherin, whose hair was still a bright and ridiculous shade of orange, she didn’t think it showed on her face. Certainly no one else seemed to notice.

When the lesson was over, Rose didn’t have to hurry to get ready like many of her other classmates did, including the four she was sitting with; while they had to rush to get back up to the castle for Muggle Studies, she had a free period that she was going to be very happy to enjoy in peace.

As she finally slung her bag over her shoulder, however, she realized that Scorpius _was_ still standing there. He looked nervous; he kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and she could see him swallow hard even from ten feet away.

“Don’t you have class?” Rose asked, fighting to keep her tone pleasant and calm.

He answered her question with another one. “Can we talk?”


	13. Forming a Truce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius call a truce.
> 
> _“I’m trying to apologize, you know. Even you’re not dense enough to miss_ that, _are you?”_

Rose stared at him for a minute. “Sorry?” she asked finally, feeling quite taken aback.

“Can we talk?” he repeated. He was already fidgeting a little, and when she didn’t answer him immediately, he scratched the back of his neck with the hand not clutching his bag so tightly his knuckles were white.

He certainly didn’t see to be preparing to jinx her; she could see his wand sticking out of his bag, and it couldn’t have seemed any further from his mind. “Sure, I guess.” She dug her fingernails into her palms, struggling to remain calm. The memory of her dream the night before was roaring back, which made looking at him a little awkward. He didn’t seem to notice her discomfort, though - either she was succeeding at hiding it, or he had more than enough concerns of his own.

Or both.

The day was clear and cool without being uncomfortable. When she fell into step with him, she took a deep breath and relaxed despite herself; it was difficult to be too tense about _anything_ on a day like today.

“So what’s up?” she asked him after they’d walked in silence for a minute. He seemed to be struggling for words, and she cocked her head to the side. “I thought you wanted to talk. Why didn’t you practice in a mirror first, if you were so nervous?”

“I’m sorry I put you in the Hospital Wing,” he blurted out. “That really wasn’t my intention. I think I must have messed up the potion a little.”

Scorpius looked genuinely remorseful, and Rose couldn’t help but flash back to his apology the week before - for someone who said he didn’t like her, Scorpius was putting an awful lot of energy into making her not hate him.

“I thought you were a potions genius,” she said. “I didn’t think you were capable of mistakes.”

His glare made her bite back any further jibes. “I’m trying to apologize, you know. Even you’re not dense enough to miss _that,_ are you?” She bristled, and he sighed and held up his hands. “Merlin, Rose, I’m _trying_ to make peace.”

“Easy for you to say when you’ve gotten the last word.”

He snorted. “I’ll give you that what I did was _worse_ , considering you ended up in the Hospital Wing, but I’m pretty sure _you’ll_ have the last word - is this hair _ever_ going to fade?”

Rose felt a smile spread across her lips. “It’s started to. Give it another couple weeks.”

“Great.” Scorpius stopped walking and stretched his arms above his head. As the sunlight fell on his face, Rose felt a strange twinge in her stomach and realized with a start that even with his ridiculous hair, Scorpius Malfoy really was _quite_ handsome.

“Why are you trying to make peace, anyway?” she asked, trying to refocus on the matter at hand. It was difficult; the way his shirt fit his chest made her wonder what he looked like without the shirt at all, and she wasn’t sure why she hadn’t really thought about it before this year.

He sighed. “I don’t know. I guess I’m tired of lectures from my best friend, and I know that I can’t really beat you if we get into a prank war - you’ve got plenty of cousins to help you out, and my cousins _like_ the rules. Noah and Andrew are prefects, and Evy’s the Head Girl. I won’t get their help anytime soon, and Albus certainly isn’t going to back me up.”

Given his conversation with Noah in the library that she’d eavesdropped on, Rose doubted that Scorpius’s motivation was limited to that. She wasn’t sure whether that was really something she should be bringing up right now, but she was too curious to exercise better restraint. “Those are your only reasons for wanting a truce?”

The slight tinge that appeared on his cheeks told her what she needed to know. “What other reason could I have?”

Rose stepped a little closer to him. She could _hear_ him swallow now. “I don’t know,” she said, trailing one finger lightly down his cheek. “You tell me.”

His breath was definitely coming a little quicker now; the shade from the trees made the rise and fall of his chest easy to spot. When she glanced down, she saw that he had his hands locked firmly behind his back. He seemed to be at a loss for words.

Rose leaned up to brush her lips across his cheek. “I’m okay with a truce,” she told him, her voice so soft he had to strain to hear it. “You should get to class, though. You must be late.”

“Well, I’m okay with that,” he breathed. “It’s worth a detention.”

She was seized with a very strong desire to put her arms around his neck and kiss him - a real kiss, not just a kiss on his cheek. This urge, however, was one she managed to quell - she had a feeling that it could have far more lasting consequences than the uncertainties she’d pushed to the back of her mind thus far. Rose managed to force herself to take a step back.

“I’m okay with a truce,” she repeated, this time in a more normal tone.

Though the red on his cheeks had deepened, Scorpius had a small smirk spreading across his mouth. “I don’t think I’m the only one with ulterior motives,” he told her.

This time it was Rose’s turn to feel her cheeks get warm. “I’ll see you later.”

He laughed as she brushed by him. “Yeah, you will. Count on it.”

Rose’s concentration for the rest of the day was shot, and when she went downstairs for dinner, she found herself glancing over at the Slytherin table several times over the course of the meal. To her irritation, Scorpius didn’t seem to be aware of her existence; he was deep in conversation with Noah and another Slytherin in their year named Claire. Worse, Rose caught him laughing at things Claire had said twice, and she was disturbed to find a hint of jealousy at his attention toward the other girl.

The irritation didn’t dissipate as the night wore on, and after snapping at her friends several times, she decided to retire early. She knew it probably wasn’t strictly fair, but as she drifted off to sleep, she was feeling considerable animosity toward Scorpius, truce or no truce. Who was he to throw her emotions into such a state of disarray?

She was in the library the next day trying to find a book when she heard Scorpius’s voice behind her. “Hey.”

Ignoring both the leap in her stomach and the part of her that was a little disgusted with her ability to reliably recognize his voice from one short word, she shot a glance over her shoulder. “Are you following me around now?”

He frowned. “Rose, I’ve been over by the windows with Claire since after breakfast. I saw you come in.”

Embarrassment that she’d somehow managed to not notice him warred with a sudden strike of jealousy. That was the second time in as many days that she’d found herself feeling that way about Scorpius Malfoy, and she found it quite as disturbing as she had the night before. “Oh.”

He eyed her. “Are you all right? You look a little red.” He was smiling again, and she fought the urge to groan. She was starting to feel like he had the upper hand, and she didn’t like it at all.

“I’m fine. I just got hit by a bludger during practice this morning. It’s still sore.” She was seized with a sudden inspiration and pulled down the neck of her shirt to show him the blossoming bruise on her shoulder. When she looked up, Scorpius had a little frown on his face. “What’s wrong?”

Scorpius looked up at the ceiling for a moment before lowering his gaze again, reminding her distinctly of Albus, which in its own way was even _more_ disarming. “That’s your idea of _fun?”_

Rose had to work to keep herself from smirking at her success. “Yep. Want to kiss it to make it all better?” As soon as she said that, she wanted to kick herself. When he opened his mouth, she added quickly, “I was joking.”

“Too bad,” he said.

Rose immediately felt her face get hotter, and she yanked the neck of her shirt back up, inadvertently smacking the bruise in the process. Her eyes watered at the sharp pain, and she bit her lip to keep from cursing.

‘You should go to the hospital wing,” she heard Scorpius say, and she looked up at him. Through the tears, she could see that a crease had appeared in his forehead.

“I’m _fine,”_ she said through gritted teeth. “It’s just a bruise.” He opened his mouth, and she snapped, “Did you want something?” She dragged her sleeve across her eyes. When she looked back at him, he’d turned away from her and started scanning the shelves. He didn’t answer her, so she added, “I didn’t know you took Arithmancy.”

He glanced back at her. “I don’t,” he said mildly. “Noah asked me to pick up a book for him.”

“Oh.” Rose sighed. She wasn’t sure what she wanted just now, but she did know that she didn’t really want to fall back to their old antagonism. “Look, I’m sorry. I just…” She trailed off and looked up at the ceiling. “I had a rough night, and practice this morning was hard.”

As a result of her irritation with everyone around her the night before and considerable tossing and turning throughout the night, she hadn’t been quite as focused at Quidditch practice as she’d really needed to be, which had led to several painful encounters with bludgers that under normal circumstances she’d have had no trouble dodging and enough dropped quaffles that James had eventually lost his patience and yelled at her.

Scorpius was studying her carefully. For a moment, she thought he was going to make a smart comment, but instead he asked, a little awkwardly, “Er— do you want a hug, or something?”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she actually took an involuntary step back, catching her foot in the strap of her bag. “Oh, hell,” she muttered as she felt herself fall backwards. Her initial instinct was to grab a shelf to catch herself, but she managed to stop herself; she knew that the shelves were not quite as sturdy as they appeared, and the very last thing she needed was old, heavy books cascading down on top of her.

Hitting the ground hurt exactly as much as she’d thought it would, given the large bruise spreading across the back of her thigh, and she felt her eyes water again. She quickly wiped her sleeve across them as Scorpius knelt down.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to surprise you into falling down. That’s just always what my cousin Johanna says when somebody’s stressed, and, well, with the truce and all…” He offered her a hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t offer again.”

Rose stared at him for a few heartbeats before placing her hand in his and allowing him to help her up. “You’re very strange.” She studied his face, and he shifted uncomfortably. “Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I want a hug.” Rose could feel her ears starting to burn, but thankfully, her very messy windswept hair was concealing them from view.

“Oh.” Scorpius stepped forward and gingerly placed his arms around her, as though he was half-expecting her to pull out her wand and jinx him instead. She rested her head on his shoulder, and after a moment, his grip tightened.

When they parted, Rose was very sure that more than her ears were red, though she could take solace in the fact that Scorpius was blushing so furiously it looked almost as though he had a sunburn. Before she could stop herself, she let out a loud giggle.

He looked rather insulted, so she hastened to say, “Sorry. It’s just your hair.” The orange was practically glowing in the sunlight streaming through the window.

He made a face. “So next time, don’t turn it red. When did you say it was going to get back to my normal color?”

Rose shrugged. “I don’t know, I didn’t have anything to do with it, remember?” He rolled his eyes, and she smiled. “Is there anything in particular you wanted, or did you just come over here to make me trip over myself so you could hug me while my defenses were down?”

Scorpius let out a snort and leaned against a bookshelf. It shook slightly before stabilizing. “Yeah, that’s it. Genius plan, right?” 

It was really very strange. The more time she actually spent talking to Scorpius, rather than just sniping at him, the more she was discovering that he actually wasn’t a terrible person to spend time with. In fact, sometimes he was downright fun.

How she’d gone four years without realizing that was beyond her, although at this point she was really beginning to think that he was so strange and complicated that it had to be his fault.

A girl appeared at the end of the aisle. “Scorpius, I’m going back down to the Common Room. I left your books on the table.” She stared down at them for another moment and spat, “Have a _great_ time,” before turning on her heel and disappearing from view.

Rose stared after her, not sure what had just happened. Scorpius, on the other hand, groaned and let his head fall against the bookshelf.

“What was that?” Rose asked him.

“That was Claire. She’s…” He paused for a moment, trying to find the words. “She’s pissed off at me for the truce thing, and - other things. I’m sure I’ll hear all about it later.”

Rose spun around. “What, is she—”

Her opinion of him didn’t even have time to plummet before his head snapped back up and he said, very vehemently, “No!” Someone several aisles over made a disgusted sound, and he lowered his voice. “God, no. She’s just annoyed because she really, really doesn’t like you, and…”

He trailed off, and Rose prompted him. “And?” Her heart was thudding in her chest, and despite everything that had happened recently, she was still surprised to find how much she cared about his answer.

Scorpius sighed. “And I was the only one of her friends who felt as strongly about it as she did. She’s been suspecting that I’ve gone over to the dark side since Albus started lecturing me, and my disappearing on her to come talk to you just now probably didn’t help.”

A strong sense of relief that she found deeply disconcerting washed over Rose. “So she’s not…”

“No,” he said feelingly. “Definitely not. Claire can be a real bitch sometimes.”

Rose knew that her entire face was glowing at this point. She wouldn’t have been surprised to find her blush spreading across her body. “And she doesn’t…”

_“No,”_ Scorpius repeated. “Noah actually thinks that she’s got her eyes on Albus. I don’t know if he’s right, but if he is, that’ll be good for a laugh.”

“Albus can’t go out with a Slytherin,” Rose said before she could stop herself, and winced as soon as she’d processed who she’d said that to.

Thankfully, when she looked over at Scorpius, he looked more amused than anything. “Not with any of the ones in our year, anyway,” he said. “They’re all trolls or way too high-strung for him, and I’m pretty sure that he’s straight, whatever else is wrong with him when it comes to girls.” Rose gave him a curious look, and he grinned. “You never heard about Gretchen Creevey?” She shook her head, and he snorted. “In February, Gretchen cornered him in the library and asked him out. He stumbled over his words for a bit and ended up deciding on, “Fifteen is too young to be going out.”

Rose stared at him. “You’re joking.”

He shook his head and pointed down the aisle to the shelf closest to the windows. “It was right over there.”

Rose cast her mind around. She couldn’t remember Albus mentioning that to her, but even for something that embarrassed him, that was a bit odd. “When in February?” she asked.

Scorpius screwed his face up as he thought. “The day you started going out with Julian Fairbourne,” he said after a moment.

That explained why Albus hadn’t told her. She hadn’t seen him as much as usual in February, because he was too busy trying to avoid Julian. But… “How do you remember that?” Rose asked suspiciously, and was rewarded by a renewed hint of pink on his cheeks.

“Because Albus was annoyed about it,” he said calmly, but the tinge didn’t disappear. “He did that thing he does with his mouth whenever Julian comes up.”

Rose decided not to push it, though she had a feeling that Scorpius didn’t remember it because _Albus_ had been annoyed about her going out with Julian.

Impulsively, she leaned in to press her lips against his very warm cheek. When he looked over at her, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. The cat really seemed to be out of the bag now, but Rose couldn’t really find it in herself to care - her curiosity about what it would be like to _really_ kiss Scorpius Malfoy was starting to become too overwhelming to ignore.


	14. Flirting by the Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius have a memorable encounter by the lake.
> 
> _“Rose, if you’re just doing this to tease me after_ everything _I just told you, I’m going to turn you_ into _the giant squid."_

By the time Monday morning rolled around, Rose had had no less than three more dreams about being in very compromising situations with Scorpius - in one case, being in a state of undress that far exceeded any she’d been in with either Damien or Julian. She tried to control her blush when she saw him across the Great Hall at breakfast, but when both Albus and James asked her what was wrong, she knew she wasn’t meeting with much success.

Herbology was sufficiently distracting, though, and she even managed to largely ignore his presence at Care of Magical Creatures. After the lesson, though, she found herself needing to clear her head far more than she wanted lunch, so rather than follow the rest of the students up to the castle, she headed down to the lake.

Of course, she’d hadn’t counted on Scorpius. After she’d been sitting there for about ten minutes, enjoying the breeze and the solitude, she heard a voice behind her.

“Nice day, isn’t it?”

She jumped and twisted around. “Oh. It’s just you.”

“I’m hurt,” he said, stopping a couple of feet away from her. “I’m a ‘just you’ now?”

She slumped back onto the ground and leaned back against the tree. “What do you want?”

He put on an expression of deepest hurt that she was sure was not genuine. “How do you know I’m not just here to enjoy the scenery with you?”

“Are you?” Rose was not expecting a yes, and sure enough, he shrugged.

“No,” he admitted, sitting down near her. She resisted the move, in part because she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to inch away from him or toward him.

“So what do you want?” she repeated.

He smiled. “I’ve decided to call off our truce. I’m going to turn your hair green.” Her hand flew up to her throat, and she realized that she’d forgotten to put the necklace on that morning. She was about to go for her wand when he started laughing, and she realized that his was still sticking out of his bag, which he’d dropped only barely within reach. “Calm down - I’m joking. I meant what I said about wanting atruce.”

Rose felt a smile spread across her face, despite her efforts to control it. “Good to hear. Aren’t you hungry?”

“Not really. Are you going to tell me to leave anyway?”

“Not unless you irritate me,” she told him. “Um - can I ask you a question?” He shrugged, which she took as a yes. “I thought you hated me.”

Scorpius tore his attention away from the lake’s surface to look at her. “That isn’t a question.” She rolled her eyes, and he seemed to take the hint. “How do you know I don’t?”

“No, really.”

He made a face. “Have it your way, then. No, I don’t hate you. Not really.” She gave him a moment to mull it over. “It’s just - you made a _terrible_ first impression, you know.”

She didn’t know. “What do you mean?”

He stared at her. “On the train. First year.” She was still drawing a blank. It must have showed on her face, because he laughed. “I really have been giving you way too much credit.”

Rose felt her cheeks begin to burn. “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

Scorpius smiled at her, and she felt her stomach turn over. She was definitely in trouble - a Slytherin who was still sporting the after effects of a jinx cast by her cousin should not be inciting this much of a reaction from her just by _smiling._ “Well, I’ve been figuring you for being intentionally nasty, but at this point, I’m convinced that you have the self-awareness and self-control for that.”

Rose couldn’t get indignant at that - there was too much truth in it. “Does it much matter?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “It does. Being dense and having poor judgment bothers me a lot less than maliciousness.”

She stared at him. “Are you sure you’re in the right house?” she asked, wondering that for the first time in the four years that she’d known him.

He considered that while examining the stones strewn around where they were sitting. “Well, I’m pretty manipulative, cunning, resourceful, and incredibly results-oriented.” He chose one and threw it at the water. It skipped four times before sinking to the bottom. “Yeah, Rose. I think I’m in the right house. Your mistaken opinions aside, being a Slytherin doesn’t have anything to do with being a cruel person, and I’m not a cruel person.”

He was right; while Scorpius had frequently come across as unpleasant during their acquaintance, he’d never seemed cruel.

And Albus probably wouldn't be friends with someone who was.

It was a different view into Slytherin that she was not at all sure she was able to accept, but she knew that she should say something, especially given that he was offering another olive branch, and she really did want to know what it would be like to kiss him. “No, you’re not, are you?”

“No.” She noticed how close together their hands had gotten and pulled hers away quickly. He raised an eyebrow at her. “What, afraid I’m going to bite?”

“I still don’t understand,” she said, ignoring the question. “Why are you trying to be friendly now?”

A cool breeze hit them, and she felt her hair blow back. She wished she’d had the presence of mind to braid it; there would be a lot more knots to comb out tonight than there would be if she had.

Scorpius cocked his head to the side and looked at her. “Exactly how much of that conversation a couple weeks ago did you overhear?”

Rose hesitated for a moment, and he raised his eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure I heard pretty much all of it,” she admitted.

“I thought so. Brilliant.” He sighed. “All right, I guess I might as well own up to it, then. I think that at first, I found you interesting because you came across as so incredibly unpleasant, but Albus – who I have always liked very much – seemed to genuinely enjoy spending time with you. You’re not his brother, so he didn’t really _have_ to. You could have easily grown apart. But you didn’t.”

That was a take on their mutual animosity she’d never thought of. “Of course not. Albus is one of my best friends.”

“Well, yeah. That’s my point.” He frowned. “If you make fun of me for any of this, I’m going to hex you into oblivion.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” she told him. “But can’t I tease you just a little?”

The corners of his mouth turned up. “Depends on what you mean by tease.” She felt her face get hot, and he glanced at her. “I have to say, I’m enjoying feeling like the tables have turned a little. You deserve it.”

“So all of this is just because you find me interesting?”

Scorpius looked at the sky. “Not exactly. I’m not sure what changed when, but something started to at some point, and this summer made it worse. A lot worse.” Now his face was just as red as she was sure hers was, and she allowed herself a brief feeling of victory.

“Your face is red again,” she pointed out. “It clashes horribly with your hair.”

“Thanks,” he said dryly. “Guess what? Yours does, too.” Rose looked away from him. “Well, that’s my story,” he said. “What’s yours? Figured out why you like rubbing my face in it yet?”

“Not really,” she said blithely, though her feelings on the subject weren’t anywhere near as casual as she was making them out to be. “Curiosity, I guess.”

He rolled his eyes. “Terrific. So I’m here dealing with conflicted emotions, and you’re just _curious.”_

“It’s a common motivation for me. Don’t take it personally.” He snorted and looked down at the water. The conversation was getting entirely too serious for Rose’s comfort - it was started to bring back to mind dreams that she didn’t feel were wise to think about while she was in his presence - so she nudged him. He looked up in surprise, and she grinned. “It’s also just fun to bother you.”

An answering smile spread across his face. “Want to bother me a little more?” 

“Sure.” Rose tucked her hair behind her ears and ran her tongue over her lips. This might turn out to be a terrible idea, but she couldn’t seem to get the idea of kissing him out of her head, and Scorpius really was turning out to be mostly all right.

She knew she’d caught him off-guard when she turned toward him. His eyes had widened slightly, and he looked a little wary. He’d clearly been expecting a witty reply, not a yes.

“You know,” she said, leaning toward him and bringing one hand up to touch his hair, “this really is an _awful_ color on you.”

In other situations, he probably would have batted her hand away. She wasn’t sure if right now he was too taken aback to do so, or if he simply didn’t want to risk her getting up and walking away. This was clearly an itch he’d been craving to scratch, too.

“It’s your own fault,” he told her. “Next time you want to turn it some strange colour, turn it green.”

Rose frowned. Her fingers were still touching his hair, and his only movement was the rise and fall of his chest. “Say I told you I’d either promise that next time, I’d turn your hair green instead of red, or I’d kiss you. What would you say then?”

He swallowed audibly. “I think I’d take the red hair."

“Really?” she asked, licking her lips again. His eyes darted down to them, and then back up to meet her eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“But I’m so irritating and frustrating,” she pointed out, dropping the hand from his hair to trail a finger down the side of his cheek.

A shudder ran through him. “Yes. You are.”

“You seem to like me anyway,” she pointed out, now tracing his jaw line. His body was tenser than she’d ever seen it - he’d curled both hands he was leaning on into tight fists, and other than the rise and fall of his chest, he was barely moving.

“Yes,” he agreed, his voice sounding very strained. She leaned in closer to brush her lips very lightly again his cheek. “Rose, I swear to god, if you’re just doing this to tease me after _everything_ I just told you, I’m going to turn you _into_ the giant squid,” he said sharply.

“But you did say it was all right to tease you,” she pointed out smoothly.

“That is _not_ what I—” he started to say, and she kissed him. Really kissed him.

As soon as her lips touched his, she felt an entire _colony_ of butterflies erupt in her stomach. His lips were soft and warm and everything they’d been in her dreams, and he groaned into her mouth. When she didn’t pull back, he didn’t hesitate in responding quite as ardently as she was. Suddenly his fists were no longer clenched - he wound one arm around her waist to pull her closer, and his other hand drifted up to the back of her neck. He began to trail his fingers across it lightly as his tongue passed through her lips to brush against hers.

When she pulled back, her heart was pounding in her ears. To her relief, he looked equally dumbstruck and was also breathing heavily. “I didn’t think you were actually going to do that,” he said after a moment.

“I know you didn’t.”

“Let’s try it again,” he suggested, and lowered his head to hers. When she pulled back, he did the same and frowned at her. “Was that - er - not good?”

Rose choked out a laugh. “No, it was good,” she said quickly, though she left out any number of qualifiers that would have strengthened the statement appropriately. It had been more than good. “I just - um - maybe we ought to stop. For now.”

_“Why?”_ Scorpius asked incredulously. “Tell me if I’m just a bad kisser, but I thought that was a lot more than good.” She shrugged, and he let go of her. “I hate you,” he groaned, though his voice lacked conviction.

She pushed herself up off the ground. “Lunch must be almost over. We should go.”

“Go?” The concept sounded completely foreign to him.

“I’m not skipping Charms.” Rose turned and walked back up toward the castle. After a moment, she heard Scorpius’s footsteps hurrying after her.

“I really do hate you,” he said when he reached her. When she looked at him, however, he had a broad grin on his face.

“You’re a very strange person,” she told him.

“So are you. And you started it.”

Rose couldn’t really argue with that.


	15. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius deal with the fallout of their encounter by the lake.
> 
> _“Wow, you must find me_ really _irresistible.”_

By the end of the time she got to History of Magic, Rose had almost managed to put her encounter with Scorpius at the lake out of her mind. Seeing him, however, brought it all roaring back, particularly when she realized that he was staring at her lips. 

When she and Albus joined James and Tyler for dinner, Rose filled her plate, but rather than eat the food, she pushed it around her plate with her fork. After about ten minutes, her meal was reduced to an unappetizing meld of potatoes, bread, and apple slices.

“Hey, Rose,” Tyler said. She glanced up. “Are you okay?”

She tossed her fork down onto her plate. “I’m just frustrated,” she said. “We were supposed to be learning the Patronus Charm in class today, and I couldn’t even make vapor.”

“I’ll help you tonight, if you like,” James offered immediately.

“I will, too, if you like,” Tyler added. “Forget vapor, we’ll have you casting a corporeal Patronus in no time.” He grinned. “Without Malfoy slipping something into your tea.”

The mention of Scorpius brought everything she’d been trying to put out of her mind into focus, which she knew wasn’t going to help her concentration. “Thanks.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the Slytherin table. Scorpius was sitting there with Noah. He looked perfectly at ease. Before he could catch her staring at him, she looked away. Albus and Tyler had gone back to talking about Quidditch, but James was staring at her in a way she really didn’t like. When Albus and Tyler got up to leave, James kicked her under the table, and she sighed.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” she told Albus. “I just want to finish my apple.”

He shrugged and departed.

James waited for his brother to leave the Great Hall before saying, “Anything you want to tell me about?”

Rose glared at her plate. “I hate you,” she told him.

“No, you don’t. What’s with you and Malfoy?” he asked, refusing to be deterred. “You got all uncomfortable when Tyler mentioned him, and he’s been staring at you all through dinner.”

She allowed herself to feel a quick moment of triumph - at least she hadn’t been the only one - before saying sheepishly, “We were by the lake during lunch, and I kind of… well, kissed him.”

She snuck a look at James in time to see him roll his eyes. “Oh, Rose. That was nice. Have you even figured out if you like him?”

“I don’t know. He’s kind of handsome, don’t you think?” James raised his eyebrows, and Rose felt her face get hot. “Do you really think it was unfair?”

“I take it he kissed you back, so not really. But you know, at this point, you really should be thinking about telling Albus something.”

“What’s to tell?” Rose asked. “He was teasing me, I kissed him, he… enjoyed it, and I told him maybe we’d do it again sometime and walked away.”

“Well,” her cousin said after a moment, “I probably wouldn’t present it like that. You know, I don’t get it. He’s a git. _Why?”_

She frowned. “I don’t really know. He’s kind of amusing, and he’s not bad-looking.” In all honesty, she thought that Scorpius was significantly better than “not bad-looking,” though it had never really had much of an effect before this year. Blonds had never been her type.

“If you say so,” James said skeptically. “I still think he’s a git.”

“I thought you felt bad for him.”

“I do. Doesn’t stop me thinking he’s a git.”

When Rose got back to the Common Room that evening after practicing her Patronus in an empty classroom with James and Tyler for an hour - now she _was_ managing vapor - she was surprised to find Albus there; he generally preferred to work in the library on Mondays, because he didn’t trust his brother and Roxanne not to get the week off to a more explosive start than he found conducive for actually getting work done. When she sat down across from him, he smiled.

“Hey. I was going to go to the library, but you seemed a little off, so I thought I’d stay in.”

Rose reached over and squeezed his hand. She was genuinely touched. “Oh, Al, that’s really not necessary.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still kind of pissed off at Scorpius for putting you in the Hospital Wing, anyway. Git.”

“He admitted it?”

“Over the weekend, yeah, though he didn’t really have to - it was obviously him.”

Rose began to toy with one her red curls. “I don’t think it was intentional. In fairness to him.”

Her cousin’s eyebrows shot up. “Since when do you care about being fair to Scorpius?”

‘Since I discovered he was actually a really good kisser’ did not seem like a good answer just now, so Rose just shrugged.

“Rose, really, are you okay?”

She forced a smile. “I just haven’t been sleeping well. Don’t worry.”

Albus let out a snort and turned back to his essay. “Yeah, there seems to be a lot of that going around. Scorpius was walking around like a zombie all afternoon.”

Rose managed to keep her reaction to that particular revelation to herself, though with some difficulty.

By the time Rose got to Transfiguration the next morning, she’d had to deflect or dodge several more questions or comments for which a real answer would have immediately led Albus, Roxanne, or Damien back to her encounter with Scorpius by the lake. Consequently, all efforts to push the kiss toward the back of her mind had fallen utterly short; her only real gratification was that Scorpius looked even more exhausted and short-tempered than she did.

At the sight of him, Rose was suddenly seized by a very mischievous impulse. She slid into the chair directly in front of him and rummaged in her bag until she found her last chocolate frog. She unwrapped it and bit off the head, turning so Scorpius could see her savoring the taste. 

As Professor Hanley stepped to the front of the class and called it to order, she glanced back at him. Scorpius had clearly just looked away from her, and she turned back to the front of the room with a smirk on her face.

If she was going to start noticing the way he looked and feel jealous over stupid things, he’d better be feeling it, too.

When Professor Hanley dismissed them, Rose got to her feet and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Ah, sweet freedom!” she said happily. “Nothing to do for three and a half hours!”

Albus made a face at her - after lunch, his afternoon was completely full - but Scorpius looked curious. “Have any exciting plans?” he asked.

“Read. Relax. Maybe take a nap. It’s nice to have so many options.”

He smiled. “That sounds nice,” he said wistfully. “Maybe I should skip my afternoon classes.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Noah had overheard them. “You’ve already gotten one detention for skipping class last week. You don’t need a second.”

Scorpius made a face. “You’re no fun.”

“I’m not looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts,” Albus told Rose. “I know I got a P on the essay we gave him last class, and I probably _deserved_ a D. It was awful.”

Scorpius snorted as he and Noah followed them to the door. “Al, if your work can be bad enough to get a D, I have no hope in hell of passing my O.W.L.”

“You’re not that bad,” Noah said as they exited the room. “You just need to apply yourself.”

“Thanks, Mum.” Noah rolled his eyes, and Scorpius looked over at Rose and Albus. “I’ll see you later, Al.” He hesitated, and as Albus and Rose turned away, he said in a strangled sort of voice, “Bye, Rose.”

She waved at them as she and Albus made their way down the hallway. When she looked over at him, he looked completely perplexed. “What was _that_ about?”

Rose didn’t bother to ask what he meant. “No idea,” she said smoothly. “I always told you he was strange.”

After a minute, Albus let the subject drop, but a crease in his forehead told Rose that sooner or later - and she was banking on it probably being sooner - the pieces were going to fall into place. She’d have to tell him before that happened.

Rose’s afternoon _was_ relaxing, though unfortunately, the peace and quiet left her plenty of time to think, which just now, she didn’t really appreciate. Her thoughts kept coming back to Albus; she’d enjoyed kissing Scorpius enough that she actively wanted to do it again, but it felt disloyal to be snogging Albus’s best friend behind his back. He’d be pissed off and angry if he found out without them telling him, and she wouldn’t put it past Scorpius to break soon; he was turning out to be very annoying that way.

Annoying or not, though, she really did want to kiss him again. He was good at it.

James had some free time that afternoon before the sixth years’ NEWT Transfiguration class, and she was lucky enough to find him in time to borrow the map. He hadn’t bothered to hide a chuckle as her handed it over, and from his “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” comment, she suspected he knew exactly what she wanted it for.

She fidgeted through Defense Against the Dark Arts. Even her continued inability to move from vapor to a corporeal Patronus didn’t break through her impatience to be done with class.

When Albus and Colleen asked Rose whether she wanted to go play a game of exploding snap in the Common Room, she told him she needed to stop by the library but would be up soon. She wasn’t sure whether that was really going to wind up being true, but it seemed to appease them, and she headed down the corridor alone.

As soon as she’d ducked into a passage, she pulled out the map to check Scorpius’s location. To her faint surprise, he was alone and already heading upstairs toward her; a turn down another corridor and down a short flight of stairs brought them face to face.

“Hey,” she said brightly. “What are you doing here?”

He studied her. “I - um - wait, what are _you_ doing here?” When she didn’t answer, a smirk spread across his face. “You have that map, don’t you? You were looking for me.”

Rose grinned back at him. “What possible reason would I have to do that?”

He took another step toward her, and she could feel her heart start to hammer in her chest. “You tell me.”

“Oh, have it your way, then.” She closed the distance between them, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

As with the previous morning, Scorpius Malfoy did not hesitate to respond. His arms immediately encircled her, and they stumbled into a wall. When he felt her tongue slip past his lips, he was more than happy to reciprocate. By the time they broke apart, they were both panting and Scorpius’s eyes were glazed over. Rose suspected that she didn’t look much better.

He glanced around the hallway and seemed to recover some of his wits. “We probably shouldn’t do this right here.”

She swallowed hard, trying to regain some of her composure. It was difficult; right now, most of her attention was on his lips and his chest. “Right. Um, there’s a passage up there.”

“Of course there is.” She grabbed his hand and yanked him through the doorway and up the stairs. “Wow, you must find me _really_ irresistible.”

“Oh, shut up.” She pulled him behind the tapestry and pushed him against the wall again. “But yeah, maybe a little.”

He grinned, but before he could respond, she pressed her lips against his again. He whimpered into her mouth and put both hands on her waist, pulling her closer. This time he was the one who broke away, but before she could protest, his lips were on her neck. Rose felt her legs start to quiver, and she had to hold back a gasp.

He was very, very good at this.

When Scorpius pulled back from her neck, she kissed him again before he had the chance to say anything. They were so close that she could feel _his_ heart start to speed up as she slipped a hand under the bottom of his shirt and began to slowly run a hand up toward his chest.

Then, light flooded the passage, and she heard a very, very familiar voice. “What the _hell_ are you doing?”


	16. A Compromising Position

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius are discovered in a compromising position, and later come clean to Albus.
> 
> _“Is he a good kisser? You seemed to_ really _be enjoying yourself.”_

Rose would have jumped back, but she was so entangled with Scorpius that it took a moment to get loose. By that point, she’d fully processed who the voice belonged to, and she decided that staying between Roxanne and Scorpius would probably be a good idea. She didn’t trust her cousin not to jinx him on principle.

Her eyes had begun to adjust to the light, and behind Roxanne’s incredulous face, she saw James. He seemed caught between faint surprise and a smirk; Rose suspected that he’d been hoping to find her with Scorpius and embarrass the hell out of both of them, but that he’d been a little surprised by just how all over each other they’d been.

“Um.” Her mind was blank; she had no idea what to tell them. There was absolutely no denying that she’d been making out with Scorpius Malfoy; her cousins had caught them kissing with her hand up his shirt. On the bright side, at least she’d been pushing him against the wall rather than the other way around - if he’d been the one closer to the entry, Roxanne would have almost certainly hexed first and asked questions later, and that might have made him less inclined to kiss her in the future.

“Rosie, Rosie, Rosie,” came James’s voice from behind Roxanne, who still seemed at a loss for words. “Really? I’m not sure which I’m more disappointed by, the secret passage or your choice of partner. I mean, Scorpius Malfoy? Really?”

His voice was too collected for him to plead ignorance - though Rose suspected he hadn’t be planning to do so, anyway. Roxanne whirled around. “You _knew!”_ she exclaimed.

The dark-haired boy shrugged. “Well, maybe a little. I didn’t know that Rose was sneaking off to passageways to get _quite_ this - er - intimate with him, though.”

Rose glanced back at Scorpius. He was regarding her cousins warily; he clearly didn’t trust them not to jinx him, yell at him, or both.

Or, worse yet, tell Albus.

Roxanne choked out a “Git” at James before turning back to Rose. “And _speaking_ of gits-”

“He’s not a git,” Rose snapped before she really stopped to think about it.

“Oh, he’s not?”

“I’m not?”

Roxanne’s voice was laden with sarcasm and skepticism; Scorpius’s sounded genuinely surprised and pleased.

“No.” Rose decided to forge ahead. She’d already dug herself well into the hole. “Well, once in awhile, he can be, but he’s really - sometimes he’s funny.”

“Is he also a good kisser? You seemed to _really_ be enjoying yourself.”

Rose wanted to smack James; he’d clearly planned this out, and from the twinkle in his eyes, she doubted he was anything close to done. “He’s a great kisser. Now go away, please.”

“So you can go back to kissing him? I don’t think so. Come on, Rose, some _standards,_ please.” That was Roxanne again. Rose was more irritated with her right then than she ever remembered being before.

“I have standards,” she said bristling. “I like him.”

Scorpius slipped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. “See, I knew you’d come around,” he murmured in her ear. “I’m really very charming, once I stop being an arse because you’re too pretty to ignore.”

A giggle slipped out before she could stop it. “Oh, shut up.”

Roxanne looked absolutely revolted, and at that point, even James looked a little disturbed. When Roxanne shot him an annoyed look, however, he held up his hands; apparently, he wasn’t disturbed enough to back her up.

Not yet, anyway.

“Does Albus know?” she asked Rose. When Rose didn’t say anything, her cousin beamed. “Oh, this is going to be a fun story to tell him. ‘Hey Albie, guess who we saw snogging in a secret passage?’”

“That’s not fair!” Rose exclaimed. “I’m going to tell him!”

“So am I,” muttered Scorpius. “Preferably soon. Otherwise, he’s going to _kill_ me.”

James made a face. “Come on, Rox. We can give them a couple days before we spill - I’d rather not have Albus in a temper at me because I’m the messenger if I can help it.”

“Fine,” she said. “But James, this is really weird, and kind of gross.”

“I know.” He eyed Scorpius, who still had an arm around Rose’s waist. “I hadn’t really realized _how_ weird it is until right now.”

“He’s really, _really_ good at kissing,” Rose told them.

Her cousins surveyed Scorpius again, this time with some interest. “Well, I guess he’d have to be,” Roxanne said finally. “For you to start snogging a _Slytherin.”_

When Rose and Scorpius finally parted ways to head down to dinner, she didn’t find Albus there. He wasn’t in the Common Room when Rose got back, either, and she settled down to work with Damien and Colleen in front of the fireplace, feeling a knot in her stomach starting to grow. She had a bad feeling about this.

When he finally got back around eight, he stopped in front of Rose but didn’t join her on the couch. “Can I have a word?” he asked stiffly. She put down her books and immediately followed him to the corner table, where he asked, “Do you mind talking about something?”

Rose examined her cousin. His bottom lip looked raw, and he hadn’t stopped gnawing on it. “Can you clear that up a bit?”

He sighed. “Scorpius and I just had an interesting conversation.”

Rose managed, with great difficulty, to stop herself from saying, “Well, isn’t that just terrific.” Instead, she gave what she hoped was a bland smile and simply said, “Oh?”

Albus was looking at her very closely. “Apparently, he’s decided he fancies you.”

“Has he?” she asked, trying to think quickly. It wasn’t working; lying to Albus was generally too difficult to come up with something on the spot.

“Yes. He also said that you knew everything he was telling me,” Albus gave her a pointed look.

She ran her fingers through her hair and met his gaze. As soon as she had, she wished she hadn’t - meeting her cousin’s green eyes often left her with an uncomfortable feeling that he could read her like a book. “Okay, yes, I do.”

“Look,” Albus said, sighing again, “I just… look, I know you don’t like him. I don’t expect you to. But from what he said, it seems to me like you’ve been… encouraging him, and I think you’ve been doing it on purpose.” She looked down, feeling guilty. She didn’t see how she could have told him before now, but it rankled that Scorpius had managed it first.

Albus had stopped talking, and she looked back up. He looked very conflicted. “Spit it out,” she told him, feeling horribly vulnerable. This was exactly why she hadn’t talked to him about it. Albus might not be judgmental in general, but he could definitely make you feel ashamed of yourself.

Even when you hadn’t really done anything wrong.

Well. Maybe her definition of ‘anything wrong’ wasn’t really the same as Al’s. She was sure that he would regard plenty of things about her conduct over the past few weeks as ‘wrong.’ Today hadn’t been quite as bad, but she suspected that Albus wouldn’t approve of her snogging his best friend again without telling him, either.

“Rose, you’re my cousin and I love you. I do.”

He stopped, and she unclenched her jaw long enough to say, “But?” This was even more uncomfortable than she’d thought it would be.

“But I think it’s a really rubbish thing to do to play with someone’s feelings like that when you don’t like them,” he said in a rush.

“What exactly did Scorpius tell you?” she asked. There was something about this conversation that just wasn’t making sense.

“He said that he’d told you he likes you and that you’ve kissed a couple times. And I’m sure he was overstating things a bit because he _wants_ you to like him, but you’ve still been…”

“He wasn’t overstating things,” Rose interrupted him. “We’ve kissed. Like, really kissed.”

Albus stared at her for a moment. “Well, that makes everything else I was planning to say pointless.” He took a deep breath and asked, “Okay, wait. _Do_ you like him?”

She groaned. She knew this conversation had to happen, but she very much wished it didn’t. “I hate you, Albus. Go away.”

His eyes got wider. “You do. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You’re his friend,” she pointed out. She kept her eyes fixed on the table, which muffled her voice slightly.

He clearly wasn’t listening. “How did you know he was feeling like this?”

“He’s been weird lately. His reaction when he heard that Alex had asked me out was really strange. And… other things,” she said vaguely, hoping that he wouldn’t press but knowing that he probably would.

“Like what?” he demanded. “I mean, yes, I noticed his reaction, which was why I stopped the conversation and why I wasn’t completely shocked today when he told me that _he_ fancied _you,_ but what ‘other things’ are you talking about?”

She didn’t know if she wanted to get into this with him, but she was afraid she’d backed herself into a corner. “He kept blushing when I asked whether he found me attractive.” Albus’s face was stony, so Rose hurried to add, “And _he_ kissed _me_ in the Hospital Wing.”

Her cousin blinked a few times. “Well, that’s a lot to absorb. I’ll get to the Hospital Wing thing, but stop trying to distract me. Why were you asking him that?”

“So, when you were talking to each other, in the corridor that one day… and he was saying he thought I was arrogant…”

“Go on,” Albus said, after she’d trailed off. “I’d really love to hear how you eavesdropped on my private conversation with my friend. I take it he knows, because he doesn’t assume that you respect me?”

She didn’t even feel like she’d done anything _really_ bad by eavesdropping, and she was still feeling terrible about herself. “I was just curious,” she said, trying not to whine. “Because he was so nasty to me, and you guys started talking right there, and…” She stopped, feeling that she was probably not helping her case.

Rose would have felt better if Albus had started screaming. Instead, he sat back, crossed his arms, and said calmly, “Well, on one hand, I’m a little surprised that he’s apparently gotten more interested in you knowing that, but on the other, I’m really starting to think that the two of you deserve each other. So, back to the Hospital Wing. He _kissed_ you after he put you in there?”

“I - er - yes. On the cheek.”

“And that’s what he meant by kissing?”

“Well, no. Yesterday morning and this afternoon… well, they weren’t just kisses on the cheek.”

Rose was afraid that he would get annoyed again, but he didn’t. Instead, he shook his head and leaned forward. “Then what were they? All he said was that you’d kissed by the lake yesterday and after class today.”

“Well, today we were at it for about twenty minutes in one of the passages.”

He goggled at her. “Holy _hell._ So where does that leave you?”

“He’s your friend, why don’t you ask him?” Albus looked stung, and she forced herself to calm down. “I’m sorry. Look, are you really that annoyed?”

Albus sighed. “I don’t know. That you’ve been lying to me about why you’ve been so distracted and that he’s apparently a _lot_ more interested in you than he ever told me is definitely annoying me, yeah. I’m honest with you guys. Why can’t you be honest with me?”

Rose hated Al’s guilt trips. He was so good at them. “Because you have a talent for making me feel awful about myself even when I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Then why doesn’t it ever stop you from doing it again?” he asked. She didn’t answer, and he shook his head. “No, I guess I’m not that annoyed. Or, I am, but I’ll get over it.”

“Look, I’m not just playing with his feelings or trying to make him feel bad. Okay?” He nodded. They spent the next hour in awkward silence before they both decided to call it an early night.


	17. The Trouble with Cousins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which various cousins are deeply confused.
> 
> _“My cousin doesn’t always have as much sense as he thinks he does."_

After cornering her to ask her a few more questions before they went down to breakfast the next morning, Albus had kept his distance from her. After breakfast, she headed to Ancient Runes and then to Arithmancy. Noah seemed to have gotten a fairly thorough update from Scorpius, because he expressed sympathy for Albus avoiding her in the same breath as teasing her for spending quite so much time kissing his cousin lately.

Rose was dreading heading down Care of Magical Creatures - she usually sat with Natalia and Albus. Thankfully, Colleen, who seemed to have noticed the tension between her and Albus, caught up with her just as she was leaving the castle. They sat with Natalia and Daniel, which kept Rose from dwelling too much on Albus’s disappointment.

Scorpius’s scowl when he got to Care of Magical Creatures a few minutes after she did told her that Albus had probably chewed him out at some point during the free periods they’d had that morning. On the bright side, she felt a little less alone in her misery, but on the downside, she had a feeling he was going to want some answers from her - she’d definitely made it worse.

When class let out, Albus headed back to the castle with Alex and Holly without so much as glancing at her. She considered following them, but the idea of sitting there while Albus ignored her wasn’t exactly her idea of fun. Instead, she beat a hasty retreat while Scorpius and Damien were packing up and headed up to the library, feeling morose every step of the way.

Scorpius found her there, and this time, he wasn’t looking for kisses.

“What _exactly_ did you tell Al last night?”

Rose winced and tore her attention away from the books on dangerous creatures. “Oh. That.”

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. “Yes. That. He informed me today that he was very annoyed with both of us. He didn’t seem _that_ annoyed when I talked to him last night, so you must have said _something.”_

She sighed and stepped back a few paces to slump against the wall. “In my defense, I was really flustered.” He continued to look at her, and she wrinkled her nose. “Let’s not talk about it. Do you want to snog instead?”

She wasn’t sure if it was a mark of self-control or simple irritation that made him ignore the offer, but ignore it he did. “You got me into hot water with my best friend. Tell me what you said, then we can kiss.”

“One or the other,” she said quickly, and he crossed his arms. “Oh, fine. Have it your way.” She knew that he wasn’t going to like this, though she thought it was worth noting that he’d started it by talking to Albus in the first place.

She decided not to point that out. Albus really had needed to be told something at some point, and she knew she’d been putting it off longer than she should have.

“I _might_ have mentioned you kissing me in the hospital wing,” she said. Scorpius made a face. “And when he cornered me first thing this morning, I might have let it slip that I’d caught you looking down my shirt.”

_That_ caught his attention. His eyebrows shot up and his jaw actually dropped open. “You - what on _earth_ possessed you to tell him _that?”_

“I was flustered,” she repeated. “And not all of us have lots of practice at lying.”

Scorpius ignored the jab at his house - which was just as well, because Rose _did_ have plenty of experience with lying to almost everyone - and rubbed his forehead. “God, Rose, that is the _worst_ possible thing you could have said. Why do you think I’ve sanitized the _hell_ out of every discussion I’ve had with him about you?”

“I also told him that I’d caught you out at it when we were looking at the map during lunch that day,” she muttered. She wasn’t about to admit it to Scorpius, but she was feeling exceedingly unhappy with how she’d handled Albus cornering her that morning.

Scorpius groaned and put his head in his hands. “All right, no, _that_ was the worst possible thing you could have said.”

Rose grimaced. “I know. Sorry.” She slid down the wall to sit on the floor. “I was flustered,” she said for what felt like the tenth time. After a minute, Scorpius followed her down the aisle and made to sit next to her. She moved over a little, and he slid into the area she’d vacated.

“In the future, please don’t tell your cousin things like that,” he said. “It’s just going to get him pissed off.”

“Well, you _were_ looking down my shirt,” she pointed out fairly, and when she looked at him, his face was a little flushed again. “Admit it.”

He heaved a sigh. “Fine. Yes, I was. In my defense, you were leaning over that map thing right in front of me. It was a little hard _not_ to look, even if I didn’t particularly want to, and I did want to.” She elbowed him. “Hey, I’ve never claimed to be a saint. So, how about finding another corridor?”

She elbowed him. When he threw his head back to laugh, she found herself admiring his profile and his jaw line. The jinx had begun to fade in earnest now; his hair was more strawberry blond than orange at this point, which suited him much better. At this point, Rose couldn’t remember why she’d never liked blonds.

She put her hand on his cheek. “Hey, Scorpius.” He turned toward her, still smiling broadly, and she pressed her lips against his.

Rose felt a lurch in her stomach as he leaned toward her and opened his mouth. She also had the sudden impression that she was getting in way over her head.

She also knew that right now, she couldn’t be bothered to care.

When they parted, she grinned. “Do I still drive you insane?”

His eyes narrowed slightly, and a moment too late, Rose remembered where she’d heard him use those words. For a minute, she was afraid he was going to call her out on it, but after a minute, he just said, “In a different way,” and leaned in for another kiss.

Things with Albus didn’t improve that evening, though in fairness between Quidditch practice and patrolling the halls with Noah, Rose didn’t have much time to talk to him even if they’d been inclined to talk.

When Rose got to Potions the following morning, she found that Colleen had saved her a seat, and when the Gryffindors headed for Transfiguration after they left the dungeons, the other girl stuck to her side like a bur. Rose was grateful for that - fighting with Albus always left her feeling miserable on its face _and_ reminded her that she really didn’t have as many close friendships outside her family at Hogwarts as he did, which at times like this could be a problem.

Scorpius was sitting with Noah and Claire, which made Rose feel a faint twinge of jealousy and a new wave of gratitude for Colleen - there was no way she could have joined those three even if she’d wanted to, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to in the first place, not with the Slytherin girl with them.

Alex stopped her as she and Colleen headed for the door after class had been dismissed. “Hey, Rose," he said, looking a little embarrassed.

Scorpius was halfway out the door, but when he heard Alex’s voice, he stopped dead, causing Claire to walk into him. She followed Scorpius’s gaze, let out a disgusted snort, and shoved past him.

"Hey, Alex," Rose replied, wishing she was somewhere else.

"It's fine if you don't want to," he started, speaking rather quickly, "but I was wondering if you'd go out with me. At some other Hogsmeade weekend. Or something." He paused and then added, "I know you said no, it's just that I'm not really sure you got that I was - you know - asking you out. It's totally fine if you don't want to. I just thought I'd - er - ask one more time.”

Now Damien was nudging Scorpius, who was still blocking the doorway. He was ignoring his friend completely and continuing to stare at Rose and Alex. She could tell that he was feeling both jealous and a little insecure, and found herself feeling perversely glad about it. At least she wasn’t the only one feeling that way.

"You're right, I hadn't really. I'm sorry. I was really distracted that day."

His teeth flashed in a strong contrast to his dark skin, which he and his sister had inherited from their mother, who worked in the Auror office with Rose’s father and uncle. Alex seemed to be breathing easier now that he’d established that she wasn’t about to laugh at him. "It's no problem, really. It was actually kind of funny."

"Personally, once I figured it out, I was more embarrassed than amused, but… I’m sorry, Alex, but I’m just not…”

He shook his head quickly. "It's no problem. Really." She smiled at him tentatively, and he grinned again. It seemed genuine. "I'm… going to go somewhere else now. Otherwise it's going to get awkward."

That got a laugh out of her. “Probably.”

Scorpius finally responded to Damien’s nudging and allowed himself to be pushed out the door, though not without another glance at Rose. She had her own problems, though: Colleen was looking very intrigued. “Why does Scorpius Malfoy look so relieved?” she asked.

“Probably because I said no, since he fancies me.” She kept her voice quiet enough that it couldn’t be overheard - this still wasn’t something she wanted all over the school, not yet.

“But he’s always complaining how obnoxious and full of yourself you are,” Colleen replied, matching her volume. 

“That, too.”

The other girl. considered that. “Actually, now that I think about it, that makes sense. Oooh, is _that_ who you’ve been primping so much lately?”

Rose felt her face get hot. “A bit,” she admitted.

Colleen stretched her arms above her head and arched her back. “He’s quite good-looking, isn’t he?”

“He’s a really good kisser, too,” Rose said without thinking.

“Oh?” The interest on her friend’s face grew. “When did you find _that_ out?”

“This week.” Rose said. “Er - like, _really_ good.”

Now she’d done it. While Colleen was keeping her voice down, Rose had no doubt that she was about to be subjected to quizzing all the way to Herbology. She was surprised to find that she didn’t much mind it - part of her wanted to get a little silly about Scorpius, and the other girl was quite happy to encourage it.

When she climbed into the portrait hole before dinner, she scanned the Common Room. James was nowhere to be found, but she saw Roxanne and Albus sitting next to one of the windows.

Deciding that intruding on the space that Albus so obviously wanted would not be the best thing for either of them just then, she started toward a group of their yearmates. After a moment, however, she remembered the conversation she’d had with Alex earlier that day and drew up again.

She was about to give up on the Common Room altogether and go up to her dormitory – where, thankfully, the boys in her life who were giving her a headache would not be able to follow her – when Roxanne spotted her and waved her over.

Albus glanced over his shoulder and stiffened a little when he saw her, but Roxanne either didn’t notice or decided that she didn’t care. “Rosie!” she called. “Come over, I want to ask you something!”

Rose wavered a little, but decided that ignoring Roxanne was likely to do her more harm than good, especially considering that Roxanne could really be quite supportive when she wanted to be. She headed over, and as she neared the table, Albus pushed his chair back.

“I’ll see you later,” he said, smiling tightly at them both.

“Oh, come on, Albie,” Roxanne said as he made his way across the crowded common room toward the stairs that led to the boys dormitory. “Don’t be like that.”

He waved before ascending to his dormitory, and Rose sighed as she slid into the seat he’d just vacated. “I could have told you that would happen,” she muttered.

Roxanne shook her head. “He needs to learn how to take things less seriously.”

Privately, Rose agreed, though she could understand why Albus was a little annoyed with her. “So what did you want?”

“Oh.” Roxanne cast a quick eye at the second-years sitting nearby, but they did not seem to be paying attention. She lowered her voice anyway. “Want to go into the village with me tomorrow morning? I got the cloak from James.”

Rose frowned at the implication. It was very unusual for their cousin to miss a chance to visit Fred. “I have class, but what about James?” Roxanne made a face, and Rose looked around the common room. He didn’t appear to be present, though she supposed that she could just be missing him among in the crowd. Unlike most of their family, he did not have red hair, which made him significantly more difficult to spot. “Where is he?”

“Off with Marion,” Roxanne said dismissively. “Apparently he fancies her, and decided he’d rather try his luck at convincing her to snog him than visit Hogsmeade. Bloody idiot.”

Rose wasn’t sure if Dominique, who had left a trail of broken hearts behind her during her time at Hogwarts, was rubbing off on Roxanne or if Roxanne was just annoyed that James was not putting rule breaking above all other things.

“Oh.” Rose absorbed this information. “That’s… huh.” Suddenly, James’s casual questions about Marion’s presence and his occasional sideways glances made perfect sense. “Does she like him?”

Roxanne shrugged. “Last I heard, he was too much of a daredevil for her, but maybe he’ll win her over.” She glanced out the window at the sun, which was beginning to set. “So, how about you and Malfoy?”

Rose groaned. Roxanne’s opinion wasn’t anywhere near as charitable as Colleen’s, but Rose didn’t really see a way out of this - and she supposed that she did have to face the music sometime.

After dinner, though, Rose was feeling so self-conscious about what had turned out to be pretty extensive teasing from Roxanne that she decided to head back to the library. Thankfully, it was nearly empty. After grabbing the book she’d forgotten at lunch, Rose scanned the tables and saw Noah sitting at the same table he’d been at when she’d eavesdropped on him and Scorpius. 

“Hey,” she said as she slid into one of the chairs.

“Hey.” He jerked his head toward her bag. “You too?”

Rose made a face as she pulled her hair back in preparation for a long evening of leaning over books with too-small print. “I meant to get some work done yesterday, but I got… distracted.”

She saw the hint of a smile spread across Noah’s face, and she felt her face flush. “I heard,” he said.

“Albus isn’t meeting you here, right?” she asked, changing the subject and darting another glance around the room.

“Nope.” He interpreted her second glance around the room correctly. “Scorpius isn’t here, either. I think our cousin Evy roped him into helping her out with something.” He shook his head. “I wish McGonagall hadn’t made her Head Girl. She’s become a huge pain.”

Rose relaxed. “Oh, good. I don’t have the energy to deal with Al’s silent treatment, and Scorpius is - um…” She trailed off as Noah began to rummage in his bag for something, but just as she was starting to scan the table of contents of her book, he spoke again.

“Yeah, Scorpius definitely is, all right.” He tapped his quill on the table for a minute, looking like he was considering his next words very carefully. “Look,” he said, after an awkward pause. “My cousin doesn’t always have as much sense as he thinks he does. I like you, but I really hope he knows what he’s doing and that you aren’t just messing him around.”

Rose bristled. “I’m _not,”_ she snapped. Her voice came out a little louder than she’d meant it to, and the small group of sixth-years sitting next to the Potions books turned around and glared at her. “I’m not,” she repeated, keeping her voice softer this time.

Noah studied her for a minute, and then looked back at his book. “He really is a decent person,” he said without looking up again. “Even if he picks fights with you for no reason. Just… don’t lead him on, okay? He’s already hung up enough on you.”

_“Why?”_

“I have absolutely no idea.” Noah made a face at her. “Look, it’s none of my business, really - I just don’t want my idiot cousin to get hurt.” They worked in silence for a time, and just as Rose was closing her Ancient Runes book, Noah said, “You know, I still don’t get it. What changed to make _you_ start snogging _him?”_

She said the first thing that popped into her head. “He has a good profile.”

Noah snorted. “Yeah, okay. That’s it.” He picked up his quill again. “Have it your way. I was just curious.”


	18. Talking By the Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  In which Rose has an awkward conversation with Albus, and another encounter with Scorpius at the lake.
> 
> _“I want you to be my girlfriend,” he said very quickly, and Rose felt her stomach turn over._

The next morning, Rose happened to reach the portrait hole on her way to breakfast at the same time Albus did. After a moment of awkward silence, they climbed out and began to make their way down to breakfast.

“Hi,” she said when he didn’t immediately speed away.

He gave her a tight smile. “Hi.” He didn’t say anything else for a minute, but just as she was about to fill the silence, he sighed. “Look, Rosie, I don’t mean to be…” He couldn’t seem to find the words for what he was being, and he shrugged. “You know.”

She sighed. “Albus, I’m not just messing him around.”

Her cousin groaned and ran his hand over the back of his hair. “I know,” he said. They walked down the rest of the hall in silence, but when they got to the stairs, he spoke again. “Look, I’ll get over it soon. I’m just annoyed. I _hate_ it when you lie—”

“I _know,”_ Rose said quickly. “Merlin, Albus. I know.”

“Sorry.” He spotted a few of their yearmates ahead of them and said softly, “I’ll see you later.” He sped away, and Rose was left with the sudden urge to curl up in a ball and cry.

She really hated fighting with Albus, and this time, she knew that she’d brought it on herself.

Rose ended up joining James, Roxanne, and Tyler for breakfast. Judging by James’s scowl and the way he kept darting glances down the table at Marion, who was sitting with Julian and Bridget, she wasn’t the only one who was not at all happy to be starting the day.

After a few minutes of their moping, Roxanne appeared to tire of it. She nudged James, and he looked up from the berries he’d been chasing around his plate with a fork. “Looking forward to finally finishing our detentions?” she asked cheerfully.

He managed a grin. “Yeah, I could use the extra sleep. I still can’t believe I didn’t get a howler - not that you’d know, your parents don’t send howlers.”

“Dad couldn’t send me a howler over those fireworks. They’re products from the shop.”

Together, she and Tyler were able to pull James out of his poor mood. Rose, however, continued to brood. Fighting with Albus was terrible, and though part of her felt like kissing Scorpius would have been a welcome distraction from their argument, she wasn’t entirely sure that that wouldn’t just make matters with Albus worse.

Thankfully, the post offered some distraction from her wallowing. A small owl swooped down, and when she didn’t acknowledge it immediately, it nibbled on her finger. When she jerked back, it offered her a letter. To her surprise, the owl stayed put when she relieved it of its burden. It helped itself to the food she’d been pushing around her plate as she opened the letter.

“Oh, it’s from Victoire!” she exclaimed. James and Roxanne both looked up with interest. “She says that she and Teddy will both definitely be able to get the time off for our first Hogsmeade weekend, so they’ll be able to celebrate my birthday with us.”

She hadn’t seen half as much of Teddy and Victoire that summer as she’d wanted to; they’d both simply been too busy, and unfortunately, part of getting older was not throwing temper tantrums when you didn’t get to see your cousins whenever you liked.

Her relationship with the two of them – and with Fred, to a lesser extent – had changed a lot of the past year or so. They’d all always been so much older than her that they’d had very little in common growing up; she’d loved them, of course, and loved spending time with them, but they never treated her like a peer.

However, as she gotten older, she’d been noticing a shift in that, little by little, toward them treating her more like an equal, and she’d found that she quite liked it.

After breakfast, most of her fellow Gryffindors beat a quick retreat to the Common Room; most people weren’t studious enough to do schoolwork on a Saturday morning. Rose, however, decided not to join them. She couldn’t stand the idea of sitting through an awkward morning with Albus pointedly not looking at her. The day was pleasant enough that the lake ended up winning out over the library, especially since she thought it was cool enough to dissuade other people who might have had the same idea.

Scorpius, however, had other plans.

“Hey,” she heard him say behind her shortly after she’d sat down.

The breeze had been making her eyes tear up, so she brushed a sleeve across her face before looking up; she didn’t want him to think that she’d been crying. “Hey.”

He crossed his arms. “Alex Finnigan tried to ask you out again.”

“Yes, this time I noticed.”

“You said no.” His eyes were narrowed.

“Yes, I noticed that, too.” The sunlight was hitting him from behind, which made looking at him both difficult and uncomfortable. “Sit down, will you?”

He sat. “Why did you say no?”

Rose studied him closely, but he didn’t seem to be teasing her. “What do you mean, why? I told you, I’m not interested in Alex.”

Scorpius pulled his knees up to his chest and looked out over the lake. “But is it just that you aren’t interested in _him?_ Would it be different if it was someone else, I mean?”

“Huh?”

He sighed. “Is it not liking him, or is it that you like me?”

Now she thought she understood what he was trying to say, and thankfully, she _did_ have an answer to this question. Talking to Colleen about him had confirmed her suspicions - she really had come to genuinely like Scorpius Malfoy, bizarre as it still felt.

“Of course I like you. I’ve been snogging you all over the place, haven’t I?”

Scorpius smiled despite himself, though he still didn’t look at her. “You have, and I’ve enjoyed it. But… Rose, where are we?”

“By the lake.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.” He finally gave her a pointed look, and she sighed. “You mean, like, as an _us?”_ He nodded. “Scorpius, I have no idea. Where do _you_ want us to be?”

He swallowed audibly. “I…” He looked up at the sky. “I want you to be my girlfriend,” he said very quickly, and Rose felt her stomach turn over.

“Sorry?” she asked, sure that she must have misheard him.

“I want you to be my girlfriend.” This time he got the words out slower, though judging from the way he was clenching his shirt, this was not a conversation he was finding easy to have. “I’ve never not gotten along with Alex, but I’ve spent the last couple days kind of hating him. I know that’s not fair, and I’ll get over it, but - well, if I’m going to feel that strongly about some decent enough guy asking you out, I figure I should probably beat all the rest of them to it.”

Rose let herself fall backward so she was laying on the grass. “Scorpius, I really don’t get it. Until this year, you hated me.”

He laughed and looked down at her. His hair still looked a little ridiculous, but his eyes were as striking as ever, and not focusing on his lips took concentrated effort - she had a feeling that if she did, they’d start kissing again, and this was a conversation that probably needed to happen. “No, I didn’t, and you know it.”

She shrugged and turned her focus away to the clouds drifting across the sky. He was right - she did know it. She really _hadn’t_ known it before this year, but between the eavesdropping and her conversations with Noah, James, Albus, and Scorpius himself, she did know it now.

But she still didn’t _get it._

“Okay, yes, I do, but I still don’t get it,” she said plainly. “And don’t tell me you explained it before, because you didn’t. Until about a couple weeks ago, the best we’d ever gotten along was over the summer, because I was too bored to acknowledge you and you were too busy looking at my legs and my chest to antagonize me.”

“And your hair.”

“Yes, and I’m sure my arse, too.” She glanced over at him and found him studying the pebbles by his hand very closely. “I thought so.”

Scorpius groaned without looking up. “Yes, your arse, too. What, you think I should have corrected your cousin when he asked about it? You’ll notice that I didn’t bring up your chest, either - I thought he was going to smack me when I mentioned cold showers, so I had the sense to back way off.”

She made a face. “Yeah, the overprotective streak from him is getting old _really_ fast.”

Scorpius shook his head, though he _still_ wouldn’t look at her. “I don’t think he’s being overprotective. I think it’s just genuinely a really uncomfortable conversation for him to have. You’re his cousin. He’s said that you matter as much to him as his brother and sister do. It’s just… weird.”

“He doesn’t seem as tense about me thinking about _you_ that way.”

“Yeah, well, I think part of that is probably that we’ve talked enough about girls that he _knows_ what I’m thinking about. I bet you haven’t gone into quite the same - er - detail with him that I have.” She shook her head. “Didn’t think so. And I’m sure that now he’s thinking back to all those conversations and wondering which ones were really about you without him knowing, and _that’s_ got to be pretty weird, too.”

“How many?”

He finally met her eyes. “A fair number,” he admitted. “And he’s not that oblivious - he’s going to figure it out, if he hasn’t already. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be off the hook long before I am - you’ve been lying to him for a week. I’ve been lying to him for a year.”

_“A year?”_

He looked away from her again and buried his head in his knees. “Sort of,” he said, his voice a little muffled. “Look, Rose - you’re really pretty, you’ve got a great figure, and I even like the way you _move._ Though don’t get me wrong,” he added. “You’re also a royal pain in the arse and have a tendency to really piss me off. I just - yeah, I’ve been torn between hating you and liking you for awhile.” 

“Oh, so you’re saying that I really _am_ what you think about when you’re all alone at night?” she asked without thinking, remembering what James had said.

That surprised him enough that he picked his head up. _“What?_ Oh my god, on second thought, _no,_ don’t repeat that. You said it, I didn’t.”

“Oh, come on.” She nudged him. “Don’t lie. You’d _love_ to see me with all my clothes off.”

Now he fell back onto the grass, too and rubbed his face in consternation. “Sometimes I really _do_ hate you, you know that?” he said when he’d collected himself enough to speak. _”This_ has _always_ been my problem with you. You just… needle at people, and I don’t think you get that it genuinely bothers them. So _yes,_ I would love to see you with all your clothes off. _Yes,_ I think about you with all your clothes off. Unless you’re _volunteering_ to take all your clothes off, please, for the love of God, stop teasing me about it. It’s really, really embarrassing, and honestly, Rose, it’s also just mean, especially since I _just_ asked you out and I’m still waiting for an answer.”

It took Rose a moment to gather her wits enough to respond. “Sorry,” she said, her voice barely audible. “I - I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“I know.” He closed his eyes. “But you still did, so don’t do it next time.”

“Okay.” She thought about what he’d said for a minute. “Look - there isn’t anyone _but_ you, so you don’t have to worry about me saying yes to someone else, even if they _did_ ask me out. I really like kissing you, I even kind of like talking to you, and I’ve - um - well - I’ve also had thoughts and dreams about you that were - well, less than pure and - um - you definitely weren’t fully clothed in them.”

That had been harder to get out than she’d expected. When she looked over at him, he had a wicked grin on his face. “Is that so? How much _was_ I wearing in these dreams of yours, then?”

“Not a whole lot,” Rose managed to force out. “Merlin, I can see what you mean about embarrassing.” He let out a snort of laughter. Her stammered confession seemed to have relaxed him significantly. “But - I mean, until very recently, we really, really didn’t like each other. Jumping to _boyfriend_ when for all we know, this could just be a physical thing that’s over next week - no.”

He started to protest but stopped himself. “I guess you’re right.” They sat in silence for a few minutes before Scorpius spoke again. “Were you in the library last week? Just after you got out of the Hospital Wing?”

Rose stiffened involuntarily, and he sighed.

“You were, weren’t you.” It wasn’t a question this time. She didn’t respond and after a moment, he groaned. “You are so _difficult_ sometimes.”

“Sorry,” she said, not feeling very sorry at all. 

“Sure you are. Stop doing that, Rose. I don’t like you eavesdropping on me.” After a moment, he inched his hand over and tentatively took a hold of hers. She gave him a small smile, and was rewarded by one in return. “So, does figuring out whether we really like each other after all involve more kissing?”

Rose felt a smile begin to spread across her lips. “That seems like a good idea to me.” She rolled onto her stomach and propped herself up onto her elbows.

Before she could kiss him, he said, “But this isn’t just physical for me, you know. I already know that. If it was, I’d just be thinking about you late at night when I’m all alone, not courting my best friend’s wrath and sneaking off to kiss you every time I see the opportunity.”

Rose very much doubted that it was just physical for her, either, at this point, but the physical part was a very, very nice bonus.


	19. Infatuation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  In which Albus develops a sense of humour about the entire situation.
> 
> _"Unfortunately, I got about twenty feet away before I realized that you were in my best friend’s lap kissing him."_

After parting ways with Scorpius a couple hours later, Rose headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room, feeling in sufficiently high spirits to handle even the cold shoulder from Albus. Once Rose had climbed through the portrait hole, she made a beeline toward the stairs that led to the girls’ dormitories to retrieve some homework - or, possibly, take a nap. All thoughts of doing either, however, immediately flew out of her mind when she found someone blocking her way.

She looked up, and Albus gave her a slightly sheepish smile. “Can we talk?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said quickly. Schoolwork and sleep were both nothing compared to a fight with Albus, and since he didn’t look like he was about to yell at her, the odds were good that he wanted to make up.

He glanced around the crowded common room. By that time, it was mid-afternoon, so while the Common Room wasn’t quite as full as it would be that evening, there wasn’t going to be much privacy or quiet to be found there. “Let’s go upstairs,” he suggested. She shrugged her assent and followed him up the other set of stairs.

When they entered the fifth year boys’ dormitory, she was struck for what must have been the twentieth time by how much messier it was than her room. Granted, there were more boys in their year than there were girls, which certainly contributed, but even so, it seemed like half of the fifth year Gryffindor boys were completely incapable of picking up after themselves.

Albus, thankfully, was not one of them. She stepped out of her shoes and flopped onto his bed. He hovered by the door. “I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly, forcing himself to meet her eyes. “I know I’ve been a pain lately.”

He had been, but Rose didn’t want to press her luck. “It’s okay,” she said. “You just don’t want to share your favorite cousin. I get it.”

He snorted, and some of the tension left the room. He joined her and seated himself cross-legged on his bed. “You caught me. I’m really a very jealous person.”

She nudged him with her foot. “You don’t sound very serious,” she commented lightly. “Maybe it’s Scorpius you don’t want to share.” Albus let out a bark of laughter, and she clapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh, Al! Is there something going on between the two of you? I wouldn’t want to get in the way!”

“So it’s ‘Scorpius,’ now?” he asked, and Rose felt her face get a little hotter. “Yes, you caught me. I’m madly in love with Scorpius, though I am starting to think that his snogging you all over the place might be starting to strain the relationship.”

If Albus was willing to joke, he must be in good spirits – which would hopefully included forgiving her. “It could,” she agreed seriously. “How do you know he’s been snogging me nonstop?”

“Well, you sort of owned up to it the other night, and Roxanne told me about - er - bumping into the two of you in that passage. And - _ugh._ I felt bad today after breakfast, and when I couldn’t find you, I figured you might have gone down to the lake for some fresh air.”

She bolted upright. “Oh my god, Al, tell me you didn’t.”

He made a face. “No, I did, unfortunately. I got about twenty feet away before I realized that you were in my best friend’s lap kissing him _and_ that he had his hand up your shirt.”

“I didn’t see you.”

“Neither did he. You both looked pretty occupied, and I didn’t stick around.”

Rose buried her face, which had all of a sudden gotten very hot, in her hands. “Oh my god. I - oh, hell.”

“Oh, calm down,” her cousin said. “I mean, it _was_ pretty gross and scarring, but I still want to talk to you, don’t I?”

She let herself fall backward onto the bed again. “Still. Sorry. So - does that mean you’re not going to chew me out for… whatever I’m doing with him?”

Albus ran a hand over the back of his head. “Look, Rose, I’m not interested in dictating your love life. I just want to know—do you honestly _like_ him?” She must have looked as offended as she felt, because he added, “I’m _sorry,_ but this is really coming out of nowhere for me. I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m dumber than I am, because I wasn’t really surprised that he was interested in you - I wasn’t even shocked by his antics this summer - but I didn’t see it coming from _you.”_

“You weren’t shocked?” she asked, hoping that he would elaborate.

To her surprise, he did. “No.” He glanced out the window at the darkening sky before looking back at her. “It actually explained a lot, once I stopped to think about it.”

“Like what?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you seriously trying to get information out of me while I’m trying to apologize to you?”

“I’m _curious.”_

Albus studied her for a minute before wrinkling his nose. “Oh, fine. He deserves it for lying to me about it, anyway. You lied for a week. I’m pretty sure he’s been lying for at least eight months.”

Rose could have hugged him. The only reason she restrained herself was that she was slightly concerned that if she did so, he would rethink it.

After a moment’s hesitation, he grinned. “Like what?” She nodded eagerly. “Oh, god. He was tense around Damien the entire time the two of you were going out.”

“He was?” That was news to Rose. Damien and Scorpius had always gotten on very well.

Albus snorted. “Yeah. He put it off to being disgusted with Damien’s taste in girls, but that always seemed a little strange to me.”

“What else?” Rose asked eagerly, and Albus bit his lip as he thought.

“I probably shouldn’t…” After another moment of thought, he shrugged. He was clearly still more than a little irritated with Scorpius, whose analysis of who was more likely to be the target for Albus’s ire seemed to be correct. “Well, over the summer—but you heard that, didn’t you?”

She nodded, glancing down at the bedspread so she didn’t have to see his ‘I’m very disappointed in you’ face. It was almost as bad as her mother’s.

To her surprise, Albus said, “Well, I understated it a bit to him. He was _really_ shameless. I was surprised you didn't notice it. Of course, if you had, I probably _would_ have had to punch him. As it was, I came close a couple times.”

“Why?”

“He’d spend twenty minutes missing every other word I said because he was staring at your - let’s spare my sanity and say your legs and your face - and then he’d excuse himself because he needed to shower, because isn’t this _such_ a terrible summer, Al?”

“He _didn’t.”_

“Oh, he did. By the time he left, I was pretty pissed off at him.”

“It didn’t show when we got on the train.”

“Yeah, well, by then I’d cooled down a little. I really can’t believe you didn’t notice.”

“I told you already, I tried to ignore him, mostly.”

Albus opened his mouth, but before he said anything, they heard his brother’s voice on the stairs. They both looked toward the open door and saw James leading Marion up toward the sixth year boy’s dormitory.

Rose and Albus exchanged a gleeful look, and then Albus called out, “Hey, James. What are you doing?”

James jumped and stuck his head into the room. “Oh,” he said. “It’s _both_ of you.”

“Made up, then?” Rose asked, much more loudly than she’d really needed to. Behind James, she could see Marion put a hand over her face. “Good. Maybe now you’ll stop whining.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you guys make a great couple,” Albus added.

James raised his eyebrows at them. “Are you done?” he asked coolly. The red tinge that had appeared on his cheeks, however, belied his calm tone.

Albus and Rose glanced at each other, and then nodded at him. “Have fun,” Rose said, winking at them.

“I’m going to kill you both,” James said before disappearing from the doorway. “Just watch,” they heard his voice echo down the stairs. Then the door above them slammed shut.

Rose and Albus immediately broke out into giggles.

“We’re terrible people,” Albus pointed out. “You know that, right?”

The idea didn’t bother Rose very much. “So we’re good?” she asked hopefully. “You’re not mad at me anymore?”

The smile slid off his face, and she sighed. She should have known that he wouldn’t let it go that quickly.

“You _really_ like him?” Albus asked for the second time, studying her face. “Because even though I’m still pretty pissed off at him, he’s still my best friend, and I’d rather you not mess with his heart if you don’t actually like him.”

Rose looked up at the ceiling and groaned. This was already strange enough for her. Having to justify it to Albus was just _awkward,_ though she couldn’t blame him for being so incredulous. “Yes, Albus, I really like him. If you say ‘I told you so,’ I’m going to turn you into a flobberworm.”

Albus laughed. “I’m not going to say, ‘I told you so.’ Don’t worry.” He paused. “Does James know?” From his tone, he was clearly expecting a yes. She nodded, and her cousin blew out a breath. “Of course he does. What did he say?”

“I dunno.” It was hard for Rose to force herself to keep her eyes on her cousin, but she managed it. “He was supportive, I guess.”

Albus flinched a little at that. “You could have talked to me about it, you know.”

“No, I couldn’t have. He’s your best friend.”

He broke the eye contact then and started to study the bedspread. “Yeah, well, so are you, and I don’t like you not being able to talk to me about things.”

Rose felt her heart go out to him. “I just didn’t want to make you feel awkward,” she said, sitting up and edging over to put her arm around his shoulder. “That’s all.” His face still looked distinctly unhappy, and she sighed. “Look, it could be that all of this falls apart and nothing comes of it.”

“I don’t think it’s going to fall apart unless you decide you don’t like him, Rosie. He’s had a weird thing about you for a long time - I think probably longer than _he_ even knows.”

Rose felt her entire body get warm. “Oh?” she asked casually.

Her cousin knew her too well for that. “Yes, and you know it. We just talked about it, and I’d bet galleons that you’ve talked to him about it, too. Rose, just… I’m not saying you should feel bad if you decide you don’t like him after all, but don’t play too many games with him?”

“I won’t. I’m not.” She frowned at him. “So why have you been an arse lately? You’re just annoyed at us?”

He thought about it for a minute. “Well, yes. I hate being lied to, and this was - well, a big one. I’m still _really_ annoyed at him - I keep going back to conversations we’ve had about girls that I _thought_ were pretty theoretical that I’m now realizing were _not._ Some were about stupid things like hair or eyes, but some were a little more - I mean, look, if you’re going to talk to me about my cousin like that, at least let me _know!”_

Rose patted his back. “I’ll always let you know,” she said helpfully.

Albus snorted. “Yeah, you probably will. You don’t have the filter or self-control that he does, which I’m starting to think might be a good thing.” He hesitated. “I don’t know. I also just don’t want to feel so cut off from my best friends, you know?”

“Oh, Al.” Rose sighed. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t really thinking about that.”

He shook his head. “Rosie, it’s fine, really. I’ll be supportive - I mean, hey, at least you’re sort of getting along now. Just… try to be nice to him.”

“I will,” she promised.

And she meant it.

Mostly.


	20. Patrolling with Scorpius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  In which Scorpius joins Rose on patrol.
> 
> _"It’s still a bit odd to actually have a normal conversation with you.”_

Now that Albus was speaking to her again, the rest of the weekend passed quickly. Quidditch practice on Sunday went much better than it had gone the day before, and while she didn’t actually spend any time with Scorpius - she had far too much schoolwork to get done - she _did_ see him walk into the Great Hall with Albus for dinner. Albus wouldn’t tell her what they’d said, but he did confirm that they were back on speaking terms.

Considering how busy her Mondays were, she thought the day went rather well. Class passed quickly, and she even found a little time to flirt with Scorpius during Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic.

She was in such a good mood that when she headed to the library once classes had ended, she managed to finish her Potions work and make a dent in Transfiguration before it was time for dinner.

Feeling very pleased with herself, she made her way down to the Great Hall. When she entered, she made a beeline for the Hufflepuff table; she kept trying to make plans to see her brother, but they kept falling through, and she was starting to think it might be easier to just eat with him a couple times a week. On the way, however, a very harassed looking Evelyn Greengrass cornered her.

“Rose, I’m so glad you’re here,” she said breathlessly. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Pritchard ended up in the hospital wing after they had Herbology today and Wood somehow managed to land himself in detention,” Evelyn said very quickly. “Would you switch with them and patrol tonight? Noah’s already said he will. It’s only that if you can’t, Ethan and I _have_ to do it, because the other fifth years have clubs or practice this evening and you obviously can’t switch with the sixth years, and _I_ have a big Herbology assignment due tomorrow, and Tuesday is always one of my worst days even without that—”

“Evelyn,” Rose interrupted, “it’s fine. I don’t mind.”

Evelyn blew out a sigh of relief and seemed to relax considerably. “I could hug you right now. Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“It’s really not a problem,” she said, shifting her bag from one shoulder to the other. Gratitude tended to make her feel rather uncomfortable. “Though I’m still not sure why I got made a prefect in the first place.”

“Oh, well, a few of the older prefects recommended you,” Evelyn said distractedly, her mind clearly already on her homework. “Thanks, Rose.”

“No problem,” Rose said, wondering who those ‘older prefects’ were. She suspected Lucy was one of them, but she had no idea who the others could be.

She put it out of her mind and continued on to the Hufflepuff table, where she had a very enjoyable dinner. Natalia and Daniel regaled her with the story of just _how_ Lindsay Pritchard had ended up passing out after receiving a very nasty bite, and Hugo spent a solid twenty minutes talking about how much he liked Ancient Runes. That, at least, was a subject Rose could converse enthusiastically on; it was one of her favorite classes, too.

When she noticed that it was just before seven, she got up. “Sorry, guys. Patrol. I’ll see you in later.”

Hugo made a face. “Why’d they make you a prefect anyway? I never see you anymore.”

She shrugged. “Search me. We’ll do something soon, I promise.” She hurried toward the double doors, where she could see Noah waiting.

“Lucky us,” he said when she reached him.

“I don’t mind so much,” she said. “By the time Evelyn got to me, I thought she was going to cry.”

“I wanted to practice my Patronus, but Andrew cornered me, and… well, he’s my brother. What was I supposed to say? Sod off?” He sighed. “Same as last time?”

“That’s fine,” Rose said, and they set off.

She wasn’t even halfway down her first corridor when she heard a voice behind her. “Fancy meeting you here.”

She turned around. “I have to patrol right now, Scorpius.”

“Is there any reason I can’t keep you company?”

Rose thought about it for a minute. “Provided you don’t start snogging me, I guess not.”

He blew out a breath and gave her a very exaggerated look of disappointment. “Too bad.”

She crossed her arms. “You know, no matter how fun it is, more kissing is not going to convince me that we should - well, you know.”

He considered that. “Good point. But regardless, no, your company is not only worth something if I might get a kiss out of it.”

Something occurred to her. She wasn’t sure if this was the right time to bring it up, but it had been bothering her, so she decided to risk it. “You know that time I was eavesdropping on you?” She winced. “Okay, that was not the best way to start that sentence.”

“When I was with Albus, or with Noah?” She glanced at him, and saw a glint in his eye she wasn’t sure she liked.

“With Albus, but now that you mention Noah - of _course_ I don’t own an invisibility cloak, that’s crazy. It was just a disillusionment charm.”

“You can cast a disillusionment charm?” he asked skeptically.

Rose saw the danger and quickly avoided it. “No, of course not. I had a friend cast it on me.” He opened his mouth, and she added quickly, “I’m not telling you who.”

He sighed. “Well, what about the time I was with Albus?” he asked warily.

“You said something about me getting top marks in our year.”

Rose wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but judging from the surprise on his face, this wasn’t it. “Yeah, I did.”

“Well, I don’t know if you were just exaggerating or not, but if you weren’t, you’re wrong.” She wasn’t sure why it had been bothering her so much, but she’d been dwelling on it more than she liked.

He stopped. “How was I wrong?”

“I really need to be patrolling. You can walk and talk at the same time,” she told him, and peeked inside the classroom they were passing. No one was there.

“Why was I wrong?” he repeated, starting to walk again.

Rose opened the door to another classroom and scanned it. For the first time, it occurred to her that prefects were probably very annoying for couples that wanted some alone time - probably because she was starting to want more privacy with Scorpius than she’d ever wanted with Damien or Julian.

“For one thing, you get better marks than I do sometimes.”

She looked at him, and saw that he was rolling his eyes. “It doesn’t count. Come on, Red—” Her eyebrows rose, and he hurried to amend the statement. “Come on, Rose. I’m marginally better than you in a few subjects. It’s not enough to matter. You’re _much_ better than me in plenty of them.”

“You’re a lot better than me in Astronomy,” she pointed out, looking into another classroom.

“Am I?” he asked in a tone of surprise.

“Of course you are. I’m terrible in Astronomy. I’ll be lucky if I get an A on my O.W.L.”

_“Really?”_

Rose groaned. “Yes, really. The only reason I even pass is because James helps me with it.”

“Oh.” They walked for a moment without saying anything, and as she was opening another door, he said, “Well, it’s still only one class.”

“You’re also better than me at Charms - and I’ve been paying attention, you play it down but you’re as good as me and Albus at Defense Against the Dark Arts.” He smirked a little at that - it was true, he _did_ play it down, but Rose would have bet galleons that he’d get the same grade on his O.W.L. as she and Albus did, and they were usually considered the best in the year. “I also do work hard to get good marks, shocking as it might sound.” She closed the door and continued on.

Scorpius sighed. “I’m starting to realize that,” he said as they turned the corner. “Where do you find the _time?”_

“I’m a quick reader, I work well under pressure, and sometimes I don’t sleep,” she said, shrugging. “And, by the way, my cousins do the same thing, though I think that Roxanne’s the only one who does as well you think she does.”

“James does pretty damn well, too. He’s my best friend’s brother, I’ve got a pretty good idea of the marks he gets.”

“James, who got a T on one of his O.W.L.s?”

“He got a T?” His surprise was justified - most people couldn’t manage Ts even in their worst subjects. She might have felt bad talking about James’ marks to Scorpius, except that she knew James didn’t care. He found his T very amusing. “In _what?”_ he asked.

“History of Magic,” Rose answered.

He let out a loud laugh. “Of course it was. Who could blame him? But how did he end up with a _T?”_

She shrugged. “He skipped class, didn’t pay attention when he was there, and never studied.”

“Are you really saying you all aren’t a little arrogant?” His voice was laden with skepticism.

“No,” Rose said. “I’m not, but you still weren’t being fair.” She paused for a moment, deciding whether or not she wanted to broach what was sure to be a very awkward subject. Well, she usually wasn’t one to back down from a fight. “Especially to James.”

He stared at her. _“I_ wasn’t being fair?”

“That is what I said,” she told him, starting down the stairs toward the dungeons.

“Your _brilliant_ cousin has been nothing so much as incredibly unpleasant every time he’s had to interact with me for the last _four years,”_ he said as he followed her. “I’m sure that any day now, he’s going to jinx my hair red again. Or worse. I saw the way he looked at me when they found us.”

“No, he won’t. Roxanne wanted to, but he talked her out of it.” Rose couldn’t keep the smugness out of her voice.

Scorpius looked like he’d been hit over the head with a sledgehammer. _“Why?_ I know he doesn’t like me.”

“He said it wasn’t fair to go after you just because you had the bad luck to like his cousin. And anyway, _I_ like you.”

He shook his head. “But why would he start being decent now that I’m snogging one of his favorite cousins when he hasn’t managed it in the four years I’ve been friends with his brother?”

“Probably because it’s easier to ignore your brother’s friend than your cousin’s boyfriend,” she pointed out. “And anyway, James doesn’t really _hate_ you. He just doesn’t like you very much.”

Scorpius was clearly struggling with the entire concept. “You’re saying that he hasn’t tried to convince you that I’m a terrible person and you shouldn’t waste your time on me?”

“Hardly.” Scorpius clearly didn’t know James at all. “He’s just said that he feels bad for you and that I should really tell Albus if I’m going to be kissing you. He doesn’t think you’re a bad person, you know.”

Scorpius looked thoughtful. “But you didn’t tell Roxanne, did you? She looked genuinely surprised.” Rose shook her head. “Why not?”

“Roxanne has the subtlety of a bludger, and she dislikes Slytherins on principle a lot more than James. She wouldn’t have been very sympathetic.”

He looked like he wanted to press her further for a moment, but seemed to decide to let it go. “So then,” he said casually, “which of them turned my hair this awful color?” Rose didn’t answer. “Oh, come on. It had to be one of them.”

“You don’t think it could have been my brother?” she asked.

The possibility clearly _hadn’t_ occurred to him. “He’s a third year. He wouldn’t be able to cast a spell like this, I can’t even find the counterjinx.” His voice, however, lacked conviction, and she could see the wheels turning in his head.

“Oh, it’s mostly faded away, now,” Rose pointed out. She stopped under a torch and reached out to touch it. “It’s blond now, at least.”

He gave a slight shiver, and she was suddenly aware of how close they were standing to each other. She would barely have to lean forward to brush her lips against his. “It’s not my blond,” he said. She could hear a slight quiver in his voice; he was clearly think the same thing she was.

She stepped back. “I’m on patrol,” she reminded him. Her heart was pounding - she could even feel it in her ears. She took another step backward to further remove herself from what was turning out to be significant temptation.

Scorpius nodded reluctantly. “Right.” He didn’t close the distance - he seemed to be trying to collect himself, too.

Rose opened the door to the Potions classroom. It was empty. “What do you want to do after Hogwarts?” she asked as she closed the door.

He didn’t answer for a moment, and she looked over at him. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m just a little thrown by the question. It’s still a bit odd to actually have a normal conversation with you.”

As she let out a laugh, a couple Slytherins walked around the corner. They both stopped in their tracks at the sight of her with Scorpius.

“Can I help you?” she asked coldly. When Flint opened his mouth, she added, “You might want to be careful what you say. I _am_ a prefect, you know.”

He glared at her, but the reminder seemed to silence them - at least for now.

Scorpius sighed, and she realized belatedly that escalating the situation might not be helpful for him.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t think.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Oh, it doesn’t matter. They’ll give me hell about this one way or another, especially if it works out the way I want - there’s no stopping that. I don’t really care.”

“And how do you want it to work out?”

Scorpius reached out, put an arm around her waist, and pulled her closer to him. “Don’t play dumb.” He pressed his lips to hers.

When they parted, she felt a smile spreading across her face. He really was very good at kissing. “I’m still not clear, sorry. Maybe you should kiss me again.”

He rolled his eyes and let her go. “I’d clear it up for you, but apparently, you have to patrol,” he said. “What were you asking before? What I want to do after Hogwarts?”

“Yes.” Rose could still feel the butterflies in her stomach.

He frowned. “I’m not sure. I think I want to be a Healer.”

“Huh.” She wasn’t sure what answer she’d been expecting, but she knew it wasn’t that. “You do know you have to keep taking Herbology for that, right?”

“I know,” he said unhappily. “I’m not looking forward to it.” He glanced at her. “What, are you surprised?”

“Yes,” she admitted, “although I don’t know why. I wasn’t expecting any particular answer.”

“Well, that’s what it is. What about you?”

Their footsteps echoed in the otherwise empty hallway while she thought. “I don’t know,” she said after a moment. “For awhile, I was thinking of becoming an Auror, but over the summer, I overheard Victoire talking to my uncle about magical creatures. Apparently they’re becoming a serious problem - and she works for the D.C.B., she would know.” She hoped he wouldn’t ask how she’d overheard it - she and James had been doing what she thought was some well-justified eavesdropping, though Victoire had told them plenty on her own to get them sufficiently intrigued in the first place.

“Are _all_ of your cousins into danger and recklessness, then?”

“Not _all,”_ she said. “But most of us… yes. Like I said, V’s in the D.C.B., Dominique went in for Dragon Research, and Molly’s doing some work for the Aurors that’s so secret she can’t tell us a thing about it. I know Louis wants to be a Hit Wizard, and Lucy’s planning to join the Department of Mysteries.”

“So it isn’t just the Gryffindors who are into danger, then.”

“No, but we are, too - Roxanne just wants to be a Beater, which isn’t tame, really, James also wants to join the D.C.B., and Albus has been talking a lot about wanting to be an Auror lately.”

“Yeah, he’s said that,” Scorpius commented. “I didn’t know whether he was really serious about it, though.”

“I think he is,” she said. “I’m not sure what Hugo and Lily are planning to do yet, they’re too young, but recently Hugo’s latched onto the idea of being a Cursebreaker. He’s loving Ancient Runes. I’m not sure about Lily, though - she’s a bit more a gentle soul than the rest of us hellions.”

“Yeah, she is,” Scorpius said with obvious affection. The animosity he and James had always fostered had never extended to Albus’s sister, who’d always liked her brother’s best friend. “So, the D.C.B. for you, too, then? I’ve heard my cousin Johanna talk about them - she’s got some good friends in it.”

“Maybe. It sounds like the most exciting.” Victoire probably hadn’t been intending to sell her department as a good career choice, but the stories she told had definitely succeeded in capturing both Rose’s and James’s attention.

“By exciting, don’t you mean dangerous?” Scorpius was clearly perturbed.

“Sure,” she said, and looked over at him. “Why? Does that bother you?”

He thought for a minute and then shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out if it becomes relevant.” She started ascending the stairs. “I’m not a coward, you know.”

Rose looked back, startled. “Did I say that you were?”

“No,” he said, “but if that’s what your family is like, most people look like cowards, and I want you to know that I’m not, even though the idea of being attacked by a, a manticore or something doesn’t exactly appeal to me.”

“Scorpius, I don’t think you’re a coward. A jerk, sometimes, but not a coward.”

At the top of the third floor, they saw Noah coming down toward the fourth floor.

“You’d think we planned it this way,” she called out.

Noah grinned. “You’d think.” He looked at his cousin. “Scorpius, I didn’t realize that Rose needed help patrolling.”

Scorpius did not look remotely abashed. “I’m just keeping her company. I’m hoping she realizes how attracted she is to my winning personality and witty comebacks.”

“If that’s what you’re relying on, good luck.”

“It seems to be working okay. I’m hoping for a goodnight kiss.” Rose rolled her eyes at Noah, who grinned back.

“Yeah, right. All you want are a few kisses, right?”

Scorpius shrugged. “Well, to start with. Can you blame me?”

That drew a laugh from Noah. “I’m not touching that question.” He turned around and headed back up the stairs. “Good luck.”

Rose and Scorpius walked together for another half hour, during which time she started to feel a little discomforted by just how much she liked this boy who she’d spent four years absolutely despising. When her patrol was done and they were standing at the foot of the stairs that would lead her up toward Gryffindor tower, she asked, “Did you want that goodnight kiss, then?”

He didn’t wait for her to kiss him.


	21. A Visit to the Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and James sneak out of the castle to visit Fred in Hogsmeade.
> 
> _All new Shield Charms! Never get jinxed again!_

Rose loved Tuesdays. She had to suffer through a period of History of Magic right after breakfast, but a double period of Arithmancy and a period of Transfiguration tended to perk her up again, and now that she was legitimately enjoying Scorpius’s company, even History of Magic was a little more tolerable - and, of course, spending the entire morning with Noah, who she was starting to regard as a genuine friend, wasn’t half bad either.

As soon as Transfiguration as over, however, she stuffed her books into her bag and rushed off, making time only for a quick goodbye and a kiss on Scorpius’s cheek. Possibly because they were still right outside the classroom at the time and their classmates hadn’t started to scatter yet, he’d gone bright red at that, but she didn’t have time to stick around for any potential fallout - James had had a very interesting proposal the night before that she really wanted to take him up on.

When she got to the Common Room, he was already there, shifting around impatiently in front of the notice board. “Are we still on?” he asked when she rushed in.

“Yeah, let me just toss this stuff upstairs.” She took the stairs two at a time - they didn’t have any time to waste. When she got back downstairs, they immediately headed for the portrait hole… and for a very particular statue of a witch with a hump.

When the bell over Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes tinkled half an hour later, Fred looked up from the table in the back and let out a laugh. “Hey, guys. I was beginning to think you’d forgotten all about me and started caring about the rules.”

As they headed toward him, Rose noticed a new display on the left wall. The sign above it said “All-New Shield Charms!” in large capital letters and underneath, in slightly smaller size, “Never get jinxed again.” The display was empty so far, but judging from the size of it, there was going to be an extensive selection. She and James settled themselves in the two remaining chairs at the table, and Fred waved his wand to banish the plants he’d clearly been experimenting with to the back room.

“Sorry,” James said. “We’ve both been a little busy. You know how it goes.” He winked at Fred, who let out a loud guffaw.

“I see. Well, I’m happy to see you’re both partaking in the pleasures of the flesh. Who’s been lucky enough to get graced with your attentions?”

James grinned at Rose, who just barely managed to hold back a groan. She had a pretty good idea of what was coming. “Well, _I’m_ trying to start something up with Marion Thomas.” Fred nodded his approval, and James’s grin grew broader. “But Rose - you haven’t heard from your sister?” Their cousin shook his head. “Well, Rose hasn’t been able to keep her hands - or mouth, for that matter - off Scorpius long enough for them to find a place where the rest of her family isn’t going to stumble over them. We’ve all been a little scarred.”

Fred stared at them for a moment. “Scorpius - Albus’s best friend Scorpius?” Rose nodded. She’d need to face the music sometime. “Scorpius _Malfoy?_ Like, the Slytherin?”

“Pretty sure there’s not another one.”

Fred sat back in his seat, looking genuinely stunned. “Is he exaggerating, Rose?”

She sighed and shook her head. “No… James and Roxanne found us in a corridor - though he knew before that, and I’m pretty sure he was looking for us,” she said, giving him a pointed look. He didn’t look remotely abashed. “And Albus - er - saw us by the lake.”

“I hope you’d told him by that point.”

“We had.”

James cut in. “But I don’t think he was quite prepared to find them with Scorpius’s hand up Rose’s shirt while she had her tongue down his throat.”

Rose kicked him. “He’s exaggerating. My tongue was not down his throat.” James raised his eyebrows at her, and she sighed. If she didn’t say it, she knew he would, so she might as well own up to it. “It was just - er - in his mouth. We didn’t really notice Albus.”

For once, Fred was at a loss for words. Unfortunately, James was not.

“Don’t worry, it’s been reciprocated. When _we_ found them, she was halfway to ripping his shirt off and he had _his_ tongue in _her_ mouth.”

She kicked him again. “I was not ripping his shirt off. Stop exaggerating. I just - um - wanted to touch his chest. People find him very attractive, you know, Colleen and Natalia keep telling me they’re jealous.”

Fred shook his head, still looking very bemused. “Can’t believe you’re doing all that with a Slytherin. He’d better be really, really good at kissing.”

“Oh, he is.” If anything, the strength with which she said that seemed to disturb the boys more, so she changed the subject. “Can we have something to drink?”

Fred raised his wand, and several bottles of butterbeer floated over. Rose took one and opened it, but James crossed his arms and kept staring at Fred, who laughed and raised his wand again. As Rose took a swig, another bottle and two glasses floated over, and when they’d landed, Fred opened the firewhiskey. “You are not having all of it,” he said, pouring a very small amount into one glass and filling the other about a quarter of the way.

He pushed the first glass to James, who scoffed, “That’s hardly any!”

Fred made to take the glass away. “I could just give you none.”

James snatched it up. “No, I’m good.” He took a drink and shuddered. “I _love_ this stuff.”

Fred downed a significant portion of his own glass and put the bottle in the centre of the table. “So, Rosie,” he said, taking a drink of the whiskey himself. “What’d you do to need the shield stuff two weeks into school?”

In some ways, Rose was glad to share the story with Fred. She loved all of her cousins, but there was a special place in her heart for Fred. He’d been the one who had first put her on the Quidditch team, back in her second year, and even though he’d only been her captain for a year, she’d learned a lot from him – in some ways, even more than from James in twice the time, since Fred was also a Chaser.

“Well…” She launched into a lengthy and detailed rendition. By the time she finished, Fred was beaming.

“All right,” he said. “That’s good. Can’t believe he still wanted to snog you after _that_ though - he must have looked ridiculous.”

“He did,” James said proudly.

Fred turned back to Rose. “And I’m proud to see that being made a prefect hasn’t stopped you from going out-of-bounds.”

She grinned. “Did you really think it would?”

“Nah. I knew you wouldn’t start putting family members in detention or any nonsense like that.”

“Well, Lucy really does try to avoid putting us in detention,” James said fairly. “She’s only done it to me and Roxanne a couple of times, and we really deserved it.”

“What did you do?” Fred asked.

“One time she caught us making pumpkins filled with stinksap explode over Deborah Baddock and Victoria Summerby, and the other we slipped Julian a love potion and made sure he saw Roxanne first. He followed her around for an entire day before coming out of it.” James was clearly enjoying the memories; apparently, the detentions had had no effect. Rose somehow wasn’t surprised.

“Huh.” Fred took another swig of his whiskey. “Rose says you’re putting them through the ropes at practice. I’m proud of you.”

James leaned forward enthusiastically, and he and Rose were off, describing the team’s improvement, their competition, and their new training regimen. They’d both started on the team under Fred, and he’d helped them turn develop into very good players. As such, they were always exceedingly eager to impress him, and he was always very interested in hearing about how the team was doing without him.

As the afternoon wore on, Rose sighed. “We should really be getting back. We’ve still both got a class this afternoon.”

Fred walked them to the front of the shop and handed them a small bag. “I thought I might be seeing one of you soon,” he said.

“Not that I’m complaining, but you just sent us a huge box.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, well. Good advertising. They’ll be streaming in here first Hogsmeade weekend.” He gave both of them a hug.

“They will anyway,” Rose said, “But thanks.” She touched the necklace. “Especially for this.”

“No problem,” he said, reaching out to rufflle her hair. “What’s family for, anyway?” He gave them each a hug. “Get going. I’ll see you soon.”

They pulled the invisibility cloak back over themselves before they left the shop, and Rose dropped a decoy detonator right outside the door of Honeydukes. When it exploded, the owners ran outside, and she and James slipped in through the open door.

“Must have escaped from Weasleys',” she heard the man say as they hurried down the stairs.

“It’s amazing how often that works,” she said softly to James.

He let out a soft chuckle as they pulled open the trapdoor. “It is.”

They had to duck into several unused classrooms on their way back to the common room. Between prefects, teachers, and the caretaker, there were plenty of people about who would have been happy to put them in detention for going out-of-bounds, as their bag clearly indicated that they had. Even students might have raised a commotion.

The common room wasn’t full, but it wasn’t empty, either, and when they clambered through the portrait hole, they got several curious looks, and Damien called out, “Why did they make you a prefect again?”

“I don’t know,” she called back. “Maybe they’re hoping it’ll encourage me to behave myself!” He grinned. She elbowed James, who was clearly enjoying the attention he was getting from an assorted group of sixth and seventh years. “Let’s get this upstairs.”

He made a face at her. “Killjoy,” he muttered, but he picked up the bags and followed her up the stairs that led to the boy’s dormitories. When they reached the sixth year’s door, James kicked it open and they dropped the packages on his bed. “You know,” he said, “just once, I’d like to toss stuff all over your room and leave it for you to clean up.”

Rose shrugged. “Not my fault you can’t come up into our dormitory. Come on, we’ve got to get our books and head to class. Or at least _I_ have to.”

He sighed. “No, I do, too. Unfortunately.”


	22. Fighting with Scorpius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius have a fight about Rose's cousins, and are caught in a compromising position (again).
> 
> _"Rosie, Rosie, Rosie. We_ have _to stop meeting like this."_

By the time Rose and Albus left Defense Against the Dark Arts that afternoon, she had completely forgotten that she’d told him she would join him and Scorpius in the library to do some work at breakfast that morning. However, when she started to continue up the stairs to Gryffindor tower, Albus called after her, "Weren't you going to work with us in the library?"

It took Rose a moment to remember what he was talking about. “I forgot,” she said as she retreated back down the stairs.

Her cousin rolled his eyes. "Of course you did."

“Well, it’s been a long day.”

He didn’t look sympathetic, probably because a significant part of her long day had involved sneaking into the village to see Fred and playing exploding snap with Marion once James had gone to Transfiguration.

Scorpius was already there when they arrived. He looked up from his Potions book as they sat down across from them. "Get caught?" he asked. Albus had clearly enlightened him on why Rose had rushed off in such a hurry.

Rose smirked as she pulled her Arithmancy essay out of her bag. "Of course not. We never do." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Albus and Scorpius exchange a look, but neither bothered to respond.

Other than a few whispered questions, they worked in silence. Rose glanced up at the clock frequently, and when it hit six o’clock, she began to stuff her books into it.

“You’re done already?” Scorpius asked in surprise.

"No, but I'm hungry - I skipped lunch, remember? If you both want to keep working for a bit, go ahead, but I need to eat something."

She was not surprised when Scorpius immediately began to pack up his bag. Albus waved them off. "I'll be down in a little while, I want to finish this essay first," he said. He was clearly amused by how eager his friend was to follow Rose out of the library.

As they left the library, she glanced at Scorpius. “You know I’m not sitting with you at the Slytherin table, right?”

“I know,” he said cheerfully, shoving his hands inside his pockets. “But I figured I’d walk you down and leave you to enjoy dinner with your narcissistic cousin.” She stopped dead in her tracks, and he looked at her, clearly realizing a moment too late that he’d stepped over the line. “I mean—”

With difficulty, she managed to restrain herself from taking out her wand. "Don't insult James," she snapped. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off before he could say anything. “You don’t have to like him, but if you can’t keep your mouth _shut,_ you can sod off right now.”

At this point, she had him backed up against a wall, and he swallowed audibly. However, when he replied, his voice was just as irritated as hers was.

“Oh, so that’s it, then?” he asked. “Your _brilliant_ cousin can treat me like scum for four years, but if I want to get with you I just have to shut up and take it?”

Rose was caught between wanting to take out her wand to jinx the hell out of him and feeling vaguely pleased that at least liking her hadn’t completely taken away his backbone.

She crossed her arms and backed off a little. “I don’t _care_ what you think of him or why, he’s my cousin and I love him and I’m _not_ going to just stand here while some stupid _snake_ has a go at him.”

His eyes had narrowed considerably, and the sneer she’d always disliked so much was back for the first time in weeks. “Don’t call me names.”

"Then don't insult my cousin.”

Scorpius closed his eyes for a minute and took several deep breaths. When he opened them, he looked a little calmer. "Fine. I'm sorry I insulted your cousin." When she didn’t respond, he said patiently, “See, this is the part where you also apologize for calling me names."

"Fine," she said shortly. "I'm sorry I called you names. Even though you deserved it."

He shook his head - she wasn’t sure whether it was in disbelief or disgust. “You know, James decided he didn’t like me within about three minutes of meeting me. I’m pretty sure he’s the one who turned my hair that awful shade of red. It’s a little rich for you to tell _me_ to be nice to _him.”_

This had been exactly what Rose had been afraid of at the outset. Once the novelty wore off, they were going to discover that they really did dislike each other after all.

Scorpius said he liked her. She was pretty sure she believed him, especially since everyone else did, too. However, if he couldn’t restrain himself from insulting James at every opportunity, there wasn’t any potential for a relationship with him.

“Well, I’ve liked you for about three weeks. I’ve loved James for fifteen years. He’s _always_ there for me. He’s the one who kept me from failing Astronomy first and second year.” Scorpius tried to say something, but she talked over him. “When I was worried about not being good enough for the team, James spent _hours_ helping me practice. When I’ve fallen asleep writing essays, he’s finished them for me.”

She stopped for breath, and Scorpius tried to take advantage of the pause. “Rose—”

“Oh, and that map you were so impressed by? It belongs to James, really, and he _always_ gives it to me if I ask for it. He’s one of the most selfless, caring people I’ve ever met in my _life._ So shut your _mouth_ about James. You don't understand _at all.”_

He regarded her warily. “Are you done?” he asked after a moment. She nodded. "Look.” He was clearly choosing his words very carefully. "I'm not saying that he hasn’t been good to you. I'm just saying he's always been awful to me."

Part of Rose knew that he was trying to be reasonable, but it wasn’t enough to overpower her indignation. “Well, he hasn’t done _anything_ to you since we became a thing, so why don’t you wait for that before you insult him?”

Scorpius took a cautious step forward. "Will you please just calm down?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders. She tried to half-heartedly to shrug them off, but he didn’t cede the position. “Fine. I’ll keep my mouth shut about your family if you'll keep your mouth shut about mine, okay?"

"I haven't said almost _anything_ about your family," she snapped.

"I know. Let's keep it that way - I love them just as much as you love your cousin.”

Rose was still breathing a little heavily. “I really want to jinx you right now.” 

He slumped back against the wall. “Yeah, well, I really want to jinx you right now, too.”

She put her hand on her wand. “Try it,” she dared him. “Go on.”

Scorpius let out a bark of laughter. “No,” he said flatly. “Even if I _could_ jinx you right now - and I don’t think I can, because you’re wearing that necklace - doing it is not going to get me what I want.” Her bewilderment must have shown on her face, because he added, “Look, I’m all about results. I’m annoyed at you right now, but I’m often annoyed at you. Jinxing you isn’t going to solve anything. I know how to choose my battles.”

She threw up her hands in disgust. “You are _such_ a Slytherin,” she snapped, though her anger was starting to ebb away.

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t meant as a compliment,” she muttered, turning away from him.

Before she could start to walk away, he pushed himself off the wall and grabbed her hand. She looked back at him warily, and he brushed his lips against her cheek. "Look, I'm sorry, but do you understand _why_ I feel the way I do?"

"No,” she said defiantly, though in reality, she sort of did.

"Close enough,” he said. He seemed to have regained his good cheer and even managed a smile. “It’s kind of a process with you, I’m finding. Come on. Now _I’m_ getting hungry."

As they started walking again, she said, “You could’ve just let me storm away, you know.”

He laughed. “No, I couldn’t have. You’d have refused to speak to me ever again.”

That was definitely an exaggeration, but Rose decided not to press it.

They walked in silence for a minute or two, and then he asked, "Do you want to do this again tomorrow?"

"Fight?" 

He laughed, and Rose took a moment to marvel at the fact that he’d moved on so quickly. She was still thinking of jinxes she’d like to use on him. "No, work in the library. Maybe after dinner, rather than before.”

"I can’t. I have Quidditch practice, and I’ll probably be wiped out after it. I can meet you Thursday, though, unless James schedules a practice last minute.”

Scorpius frowned. “Practice _again?”_

“The game is coming up - we always have more practices before a game. Don’t the Slytherins?”

"I don’t really pay attention, since I’m not on the team.” He stopped her as they approached the stairs. "Since I'm apparently barely going to see you outside of class for the next two weeks…”

"Oh, don't exaggerate—" she was starting to say when he leaned in and kissed her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with considerable enthusiasm. After a moment, he broke away. When she felt his lips on her neck, the protest she was about to voice turned into a whimper.

"Admit it," he murmured into her ear. “Deep down, you really _do_ want to be with me.”

“Well, you do have a nice profile,” she managed to gasp.

"If you say so," he said, and pressed his lips to hers again. She could feel the hand he had on the small of her back begin to drift down. Then he pulled back suddenly. “Wait, _what?”_

Rose felt her face go red. Of all the stupid things to say, that had to be one of the worst she could have come up with.

“I—” she started, without having any idea of what she was going to say.

She was saved from having to respond by a very familiar voice. Unfortunately, that voice meant that the situation had further plummeted, and was now promising to be one of her most embarrassing moments ever.

"Rosie, Rosie, Rosie," James called from the end of the corridor. “We _have_ to stop meeting like this. And at least last time you had the sense to duck into a passage. Now you’re doing it in an open hallway? Really?”

Scorpius' hand slid back up very quickly, and she could see the tension on his face as she turned around to face her cousin.

Roxanne, who was right behind him, was clearly in her element. "Seriously, Rose. I mean, a _corridor?_ Haven't you learned _anything_ from our little encounter last week?”

“Roxanne, we’re not being fair,” James said. “It’s clear that they were just so _overwhelmed_ by _passion_ that they couldn’t take the time to find a passage. After all, I think the nearest one is all the way down the hall and around the corner.”

Their cousin’s teeth flashed. “You guys, that’s really not a good sign. I mean, I’m happy you’re _enjoying_ each other’s company so much - I guess, I’m still a little disappointed in your taste, Rosie - but at this rate, we’ll be coming across you shagging right in front of the Common Room before long. That’s really no good - you’ve got to find someplace a little more private once you start getting undressed.”

Rose could feel her face starting to burn. "Thanks for the tip," she said, trying not to let Roxanne’s words put the image of a shirtless Scorpius Malfoy in her mind.

James grinned. "Live and learn." He looked past her to Scorpius. "Hello, Malfoy. Are you enjoying groping my cousin? I hear you’re doing an awful lot of it these days.”

Rose looked up at Scorpius, whose face was about the same shade she imagined hers was. When he spoke, though, she was impressed to hear that his voice was steady. "Yes, actually.”

James’s wand was sticking out of his pocket. He made to go for it, and Rose felt Scorpius recoil a little despite himself. Her cousin grinned and held his empty hands up. "So, Rosie," he said, looking back at her. “Be honest. How much do you want to take _Mr._ Malfoy’s shirt off right now?”

"James, I'm not discussing this with you."

"Oh, we’ll get you to discuss it with us later, let him hear what you think of him. Full disclosure and all."

Scorpius shifted slightly. "You know, I'm kind of interested to hear this, too. You have to admit, it's only fair, seeing as you can't seem to stop eavesdropping on me. It’s sort of similar."

Roxanne snorted. "Good girl, Rosie. Well,” she amended, “except for getting caught."

Rose knew that she needed to say something. She opened her mouth, and Scorpius leaned around to watch her. “A lot,” she said, feeling that she might as well admit it.

“What about his trousers?”

“James!”

Rose heard Scorpius let out a muffled snort, and James turned his attention to the other boy. "Oh, by the way, Malfoy," he said, "I just want to commend you."

When it was clear that James was not going to say anything more, Scorpius reluctantly asked, "About what?"

“Well, you went for her arse, not her chest," James said. "I've heard about how much you like her chest, so the restraint is admirable."

"Probably wise, too," Roxanne added. "Groping a girl's chest is strictly fourth date material."

“And following her around on patrol doesn't really count as a proper date.”

To Rose's surprise and relief, Scorpius laughed. "You know, it would seem like you both were unnaturally well-informed if I didn't know about that map. I supposed you used it to find us."

The corner of James' mouth twitched. “Oh, what _possible_ reason could we have to wander down a deserted corridor and interrupt our cousin like this?" he asked.

"That depends,” Scorpius said dryly. "Were you interrupting her or me?"

James grinned. "Well… I'd have to say both, wouldn't you, Roxanne?"

"Definitely both," Roxanne agreed. “There’s no shame in multitasking, after all.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and gave them a very wide smile. "Well, now that we've corrected your conduct, we'll be going downstairs, I think."

James nodded, and made for his wand again. This time, Scorpius' hand twitched toward his own, but before he could grab it, James had actually pulled his out and pointed it at Scorpius. Rose cleared her throat, and he winked as he pocketed it.

"Just joking," he said. He and Roxanne started to walk down the hall, and after a few paces, he turned around and began walking backwards as he pointed a finger at her and called, "Don't make us come find you again, young lady!"

Roxanne turned to face them, too. "Especially not in a _corridor,_ I mean, _really.”_

They hurried off, laughing.

After a moment, Scorpius relaxed. "That was… interesting. I thought they were going to hex me."

"Oh, they were just having a bit of fun.”

"Yes, I realize that now, as I'm not hexed.” He sighed. "I suppose we'd better get downstairs."

Rose turned back to face him and put her arms around his neck again. "Oh, I think we can wait a few minutes."

"You do?" he murmured, putting his hands on her waist again. She leaned in and kissed him. It was really becoming one of her favorite pastimes.

After a moment, he pulled away and whispered in her ear, “So what was it you were saying about my profile?”

When Rose slid into the seat next to Roxanne at dinner fifteen minutes later, Albus had already arrived and started dinner.

"Didn't you leave the library before me?"

Rose darted a glance at James, who stretched his arms over his head. “We thought it would be better to wait for you.”

“We got distracted,” she said vaguely. Roxanne cleared her throat, and Rose sighed. “Fine, we got distracted because we were snogging in a corridor. Where James and Roxanne found us.”

"Pretty shameful, really." Roxanne poured herself some orange juice and shook her head. "A corridor. But I suppose you were just enjoying yourself too much to think about it.”

"Certainly looked that way to me,” James agreed as he served himself potatoes.

Rose hid her face in her hands. She knew her cheeks were burning - that was happening a lot lately.

"Well, Al, on the bright side, I guess your best friends can stand each other now.” James gulped down the contents of his goblet.

"True." Albus glanced at Rose. "Just please don't get too embarrassing for me to be around you.”

“Talk to him. He's the one who can't keep his hands to himself."

Her cousin winced. “Oh, god, I did _not_ need to hear that.”

"You know," James commented as he began to load up his plate with chicken, "he's actually starting to grow on me."

"I hate you all," Albus muttered.

James ruffled his brother’s hair. "Oh, no you don't, Al. Admit it. We're good for you. Otherwise, you might start to take yourself too seriously. We couldn't have that."


	23. Slytherins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Scorpius has a very bad day.
> 
> _“You're making it worth my while... and you have a pretty good profile.”_

Breakfast the next morning was fairly uneventful, other than a short reply from Dominique and a long letter from her parents. Once she’d finished, she sped off to a double period of Ancient Runes.

After a full morning stuck in a classroom – she’d had Arithmancy after Ancient Runes – Rose was glad to escape outdoors for a Care of Magical Creatures Lesson. When she got there, she found Albus, Scorpius, and Damien lazing on the grass.

“Hey,” she said, joining them. “Any idea what we’re doing today?”

Albus shook his head. “Dunno. Woodmore didn’t say.”

As it transpired, they were doing hippogriffs that day. Rose found this very exciting; she’d been waiting to get to the interesting animals, especially now that she was a fifth year and felt fairly confident in her ability to deal with them.

Halfway through the lesson, as she and Albus were socializing cautiously with a brown and white hippogriff named Pelfeather, she noticed that while Damien seemed to be doing fine, Scorpius was giving the hippogriff the two of them were working with a very wide berth.

As Woodmore approached him, clearly intent on lecturing him about the importance of portraying confidence, Rose asked Albus, “What’s his problem?”

“Who?” Her cousin followed her gaze. When he saw Scorpius, he let out a quiet chuckle. “Oh, Merlin.” She cocked her head to one side, and he said, “Scorpius’s father is really afraid of hippogriffs. He had a bad run-in with one when he was at Hogwarts, and I think he still thinks that they hold a grudge.”

Rose stared at him incredulously. “What, _all_ of them?”

Albus’s grin widened. “Apparently. I think Scorpius has internalized his dad’s warnings about this class a little too much, to be honest.”

She glanced over at Scorpius again. With Woodmore’s coaxing and Damien’s encouragement, Scorpius was hesitantly stroking the feather of their hippogriff. It sneezed, and he leapt back as though it had tried to bite him. “Looks like it,” she commented. Scorpius looked over at them, and she could see a faint tinge appear on his cheeks. She turned back to Pelfeather. “I like hippogriffs,” she said. “Especially you. You’re my favorite hippogriff.”

Pelfeather turned its head and bumped her gently, and she giggled.

“Looks like the feeling is mutual,” Albus said.

After class, they headed back up to the castle for lunch. Scorpius didn’t bother to try and catch up with them; when Rose asked Albus about it, he said that his friend was probably more than a little embarrassed that she’d seen him being a little bit of a wimp.

That seemed to make a great deal of sense, and she made a mental note to say something vaguely reassuring to Scorpius about it later.

As usual, Rose and the rest of the Gryffindors enjoyed Charms, which on Wednesdays came right after lunch. Professor Harding could definitely be strict, but she was also a very good teacher, and by the end of the period, Rose was feeling fairly confident about her ability to perform an illusioning charm. When the bell rang, she and Albus exchanged a look of dread: up next was a double period of History of Magic.

The Slytherins had to make their way up to classroom from Herbology, so she and Albus had already settled in and were in the middle of debating whether or not he should use a snackbox when the door opened and the Slytherins started to file in. Scorpius was one of the last to enter the room; his left sleeve was dirty, and he was looking distinctly downtrodden.

He slid into the seat on the other side of Albus without looking at her. “I hate that class,” he muttered, putting his head down on his desk.

“Are you okay?” Albus asked. Scorpius turned his head a little to look up at his friend, seemed to consider saying something, and closed his mouth again.

“I’ll tell you later,” he muttered.

Rose and Albus exchanged a mystified look, and she heard an outbreak of muffled laughs break out on the other side of the room. Several of the other Slytherins were huddled around desks in the back of the room, and from their glances, Scorpius was clearly the target of their joke. His shoulders stiffened slightly as the laughter continued, and she caught both Noah and Claire tossing dirty looks toward the back of the room.

“What on earth?” Rose muttered in her cousin’s ear, but he looked as lost as she was.

“I have no idea.”

“I said, I’ll tell you later,” Scorpius said testily. They apparently hadn’t been whispering quietly enough. “Just drop it.”

Albus clapped his friend on the shoulder. “All right.”

Rose leaned over Albus and poked Scorpius on the shoulder. He turned his head and sighed. “Not now, Rose. I really don’t need to deal with your nonsense right now.”

She buried the part of her that bristled at the statement; she knew what it was like to have a bad day. Instead, she said, “I was just going to say that it’s okay to be scared of hippogriffs. I’m a little afraid of my cousin when she gets into a temper, she kind of reminds of a hippogriff then.”

Scorpius let out a snort of laughter, but he still looked rather morose. She was about to say something else when Binns floated through the board and began the lesson.

After an exceedingly painful hour and a half, the bell rang. Scorpius began to gather his things up, and Albus said quickly, “Meet me in the library after class?”

Scorpius nodded without looking at him and began to slump toward the door. Albus hesitated for a moment, and then grabbed his bag off the floor. “Tell Dorny I might be a little late,” he muttered to Rose and headed after his best friend.

She watched them go, feeling very curious.

As it transpired, Albus was a few minutes late to Potions. He arrived out of breath and muttered an apology to the professor as he slid into the empty seat next to Rose.

“What’s wrong with him?” she whispered.

Albus opened his mouth to answer, but Professor Dorny turned her gaze on them and raised his eyebrows. Albus closed his mouth quickly and turned toward the board, and Rose followed suit. The last thing she needed was a detention, and Dorny was one of the stricter professors at the school - she would give it to them.

As soon as the bell rang, however, Rose turned on Albus. “What happened?” she demanded.

He sighed and made a face as he put his books in his bag. “Apparently he was already feeling annoyed about Care of Magical Creatures, and then Flint and Soebly had a go at him in Herbology when he dropped a pot with a Citonia in it and got lectured by Neville. Then they started teasing him again on their way to History of Magic.”

“About dropping the Citonia?” Rose asked, slinging her bag onto her shoulder and following the crowd of Gryffindors making their way toward the door.

Albus hesitated. “Well, no. About you.”

_“What?”_

“You heard me.” They got to the end of the corridor, and Albus looked at her. “I’m meeting him in the library. Do you want to come?”

“Sure,” she agreed. On their way, they talked briefly about the Quidditch practice she had scheduled for after dinner and the assignments that they had to do, but Rose’s mind was somewhere else.

When they got to the library, Rose dropped her bag on the table Albus claimed and headed toward the Magical Creature section of the library to try and find a book about quintapeds, which Goldstein had mentioned in class the day before. She had a lot of work that she knew she ought to be doing, but she was intrigued – she’d heard of them before, but didn’t know much about them.

As she was looking through the books on the subject, she heard a voice above her. “Hey.”

She looked up. “Hey, Scorpius.”

He looked slightly better than he had in History of Magic, but he still had a rather unhappy look about him. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better in History of Magic today. I’m sorry I mostly ignored you.”

She grabbed the book she’d decided on and stood up. “It’s all right,” she said. “I’m sorry your housemates are jerks.”

He snorted. “Yeah, well. What else is new?”

She surveyed him carefully. “So are you here to say you don’t want me to be your girlfriend after all?”

“What?” he asked incredulously. “Are you serious?” She shrugged, trying not to let the insecurity she was feeling show. “Merlin, no.”

The idea had occurred to her on the way to the library. She certainly believed that Scorpius liked her, but she wasn’t at all sure that he would judge her to be worth a substantial increase in the unpleasantness in his interactions with half of the boys he shared a dormitory with.

The thought had really, really bothered her - and not just because she’d be missing out on his kisses.

“I just wondered…” She trailed off.

“No,” he said again. “I just had a rough day. What, did Albus tell you what happened?”

Rose nodded. “Why do they dislike me so much? They’re not on the Quidditch team or anything, and I don’t remember doing anything to them, really.”

“Because you’re a Muggleborn’s kid,” Scorpius said simply. “And your last name is Weasley. Half Mudblood, half blood traitor.”

“That’s _all?”_ she asked, and he looked up at the ceiling.

“Yes, Rose,” he said in a very tired voice. “That’s all. That’s all they _need._ They’re pureblood lunatics, remember?” After a moment, he looked back at her. “Those are their words, not mine, by the way. Obviously.”

“I figured.” She frowned at him. “I hate to ask this, but am I really worth it?”

Scorpius sighed. “No.” She felt her heart skip a beat. “And yes,” he continued. “Look, Flint and Soebly don’t run my life, okay? I’m not going to let them intimidate me into not going out with who I want to go out with. I’m not ignoring them for you, I’m ignoring them for me.” He let his eyes roam down from her face for a few moments and then grinned, recovering some of his good humor. “Well, maybe a little for you, too.”

She considered that. “I’m not sure whether that’s incredibly mature or incredibly shallow,” she said after a moment. “Maybe it’s both.”

“Probably. Jokes aside, it’s not just - well - you know that, right?” She nodded and stepped closer to him. He licked his lips. “Really, Rose,” he said. “I’m fine.”

“I don’t judge you for being afraid of hippogriffs,” she told him softly.

“Thanks,” he breathed.

She leaned up to kiss his cheek and whispered in his ear, “Do you want to meet me when I’m done with Quidditch practice tonight?”

She pulled back in time to see his eyes widen a little. “Sure,” he croaked. “That’d go a long way toward improving today.”

“Good.” She lightly brushed her lips against his, and his face got redder. “I’m sorry they’re making your life difficult,” she said as she started to pull back.

“Don’t be,” he said, leaning in for another kiss. “You’re making it worth my while.” She snorted, and he added, “And you have a pretty good profile.”

She groaned and buried her face in his chest. “You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”

He put his arms around her and breathed in deeply. “Probably not.”

By the time she’d finished with Quidditch practice that night, Rose was more than a little exhausted, and she still had a pile of schoolwork to do. However, when Scorpius suggested that she just go back to the Gryffindor Common Room and call it an early night, she brushed the suggestion off. She suspected that she wouldn’t have much time to spend with him the following day, and she was coming to regard that as a loss.

It was after ten by the time they parted ways and she headed back to Gryffindor tower. Just before she reached the Fat Lady’s portrait, she stopped in front of a suit of armour and tried to make her hair look a little less tangled.

She thought she’d done a fairly decent job of it, but from the look Albus shot her after she’d climbed in through the portrait hole, she’d been too optimistic. When she slid into the seat across from him, however, he only asked, “Have a good time?” in a tone that was just a little too innocent before dropping it.

Rose liked to think that Albus was just being nice, but in reality, she knew that his show of restraint probably had more to do with the large pile of schoolwork next to him than anything else.  


	24. Family Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose accidentally reveals a deep dark family secret.
> 
> _James was going to_ kill _her._

When Rose came down the stairs for breakfast the following morning, she found James scrutinising a sign on the board.

“What is it?” she asked, coming to a stop next to him.

He glanced over at her. “Dueling club,” he said. “Goldstein and Neville are running it. It starts next month - it should be good.” He turned toward the portrait hole, and she followed him across the room.

She looked at him. He looked morose, which was a significant change from his usual devil-may-care demeanor. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.” James cast a quick glance over his shoulder.

Rose knew from long experience that pressing the issue probably wouldn’t get her anywhere, since James very rarely actually answered questions that made him uncomfortable. However, this time, curiosity got the better of her. “Avoiding someone?”

To her surprise, he made a face and actually gave her a straight answer. “Roxanne,” he said. “She and Marion were huddled in the corner of the Common Room talking for awhile last night, and I think it might have been about me.”

Rose winced in sympathy. Roxanne had never been shy about dressing someone down when she thought that they deserved it, and Rose had no trouble believing that their cousin would feel that any drama between two of her closest friends qualified.

“I don’t think she’ll mention it in front of everyone,” James continued, “but just you...” He shrugged.

“What’s going on with that? When Albus and I saw you this weekend, things seemed to be good… or were you just going to your empty dormitory to show her your miniature broomstick collection?”

“Nah, we were doing our best impression of you and Scorpius, except on my bed and with a couple fewer clothes.” Rose noted with interest that ‘Malfoy’ seemed to have changed to ‘Scorpius’ for James, at least when her cousin wasn’t paying attention. “So yeah, that’s what I thought. She’s said a couple things, though - I don’t think she likes my plans for after Hogwarts very much, and it’s making her rethink the whole thing.”

She patted his shoulder sympathetically and didn’t press the issue further. For his part, James did not mention Scorpius again. Instead, they talked about the Dueling Club on the way down to breakfast. It had been wildly popular the year before, and Rose hoped that she would qualify for one of the more advanced groups; her fellow fifth-years often left something to be desired.

When they reached the Great Hall, she followed James’s lead, and when he headed over to join Roxanne, Marion, and Tyler, she followed him, feeling slightly curious despite herself.

As they slid into the empty space on the bench, Tyler said, in long-suffering voice, “It looks like rain through tomorrow night.”

James glanced up from his plate, which he’d just finished spooning food onto. “Yes, it does,” he said cheerfully.

“Maybe I’ll use a snackbox to get out of practice.”

“I won’t use a snackbox,” Marion said, grinning at James. Whatever the drama going on between them was, either Marion wanted to put a good face on it in public or she wasn’t quite ready to give up on him just yet. “I’ll just break my arm. A Chaser can’t play with a broken arm.”

James snorted. “You wouldn’t dare,” he said to Tyler. Then he turned his attention to Marion. “And breaking your arm would just be a stupid way to get out of practice, Madam Pomfrey can heal that in about a minute.”

“You would know,” muttered Rose.

He reached around Roxanne to punch her arm lightly. “Don’t hate me because I’m not afraid to break bones to win a game.”

Roxanne rolled her eyes. “James, half the time you break bones it’s because you’re goofing off. When was the last time you actually broke a bone in a Quidditch game?”

“Last year’s match with Slytherin,” he said promptly. “My ankle.” He ran a hand through his hair, and Rose could have sworn that he shot a quick glance toward Marion. She resisted the urge to smile with difficulty. “I remember _all_ my broken bones.”

“You’d think you’d lose track after awhile.” Tyler shook his head. “Or learn to be more careful.”

James shrugged. “I can take the pain. Anyway, I just consider it good training for my career.” Rose wasn’t sure that now was quite the time to make this stand, but she knew James, and she knew that that wasn’t going to stop him. He raised his goblet in Rose’s direction. “Rosie’s with me, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am,” Rose said immediately, getting drawn in despite her better judgment. “What’s life without a few bruises and broken bones?”

“James, you can be so morbid sometimes,” Marion said. She was still smiling, but some of the mirth had left her eyes.

“Why?” he asked. “Because I don’t play at denial?” His voice had gotten a little combative, which Roxanne had clearly noticed. She shot him an irritated look that told Rose quite plainly that James was right to be concerned about her dressing him down.

Marion looked like she was maintaining calm, but when she spoke, the heat in her voice betrayed her true feelings. “No. Because you can joke about yourself and people you supposedly care about being seriously injured.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do?” James snapped. “Go crazy worrying about half my family? Everyone knows the risks. You don’t see V or Teddy quitting their jobs just because of a few bruises and broken bones, and you won’t see me doing it, either.”

Tyler was starting to look distinctly uncomfortable, especially since Roxanne seemed to be rallying to make a speech.

“This is _exactly_ what my issue is with you,” Marion retorted. “Like I’d want to be in and out of St. Mungo’s every other week because you did something stupid—”

“Stop it!” Rose said loudly as James and Roxanne both opened their mouths to respond. “Can we not start the day this way?”

Marion glared at one of the plates on the table, and James crossed his arms, looking sour.

“Or you could go find some secret passage to go… work it all out,” Tyler said suggestively, clearly trying to break the tension.

Rose wished she were sitting next to James, who had begun to concentrate on his food without responding to any of them.

After they’d finished eating, Rose trudged off to Potions with Albus, who had joined them as they were finishing up breakfast. After a Potions lesson in which Rose was pleased to produce a halfway decent Sleeping Potion, they headed off to Transfiguration.

Scorpius was looking significantly better than he had the day before, which she suspected had something to do with the passage they’d found for some privacy the night before - she hadn’t quite gotten his shirt off yet, but last night, it had been close. He greeted them quite cheerfully before the lesson began, though he looked a little disappointed when she hurried off to Arithmancy as soon as their class had been dismissed. Once she got out of Arithmancy, she started to head toward the Great Hall for lunch. Before she’d even gotten to the stairs, however, however, she heard someone call her name. When she turned around, she saw Scorpius and Albus heading toward her.

“Hey,” she said as they neared her.

Her cousin nodded, and Scorpius smiled back. “Hey,” he replied. Before he had a chance to say anything more, she heard a voice behind her.

"I told you.” She whirled around, and found Soebly and Flint heading toward them. "I said that hanging out with _him_ was a slippery slope,” Soebly continued, jerking his head toward Albus, “And from what I hear, you’ve been shagging a Mudblood’s brat all over the school. That’s definitely another step down.”

Scorpius’s eyes flashed, and Rose felt her face get hot - both for the slur and because she and Scorpius were nowhere _near_ that particular activity. Before either of them said anything, however, they heard a clipped female voice behind them. “Detention,” Claire snapped. “For both of you.” Her lower lip was jutting out and her dark eyes had narrowed to slits - though she really was a fairly petite girl, at the moment she looked like someone Rose wouldn’t have wanted to meet in a dark alley. "And twenty points from Slytherin."

“But it’s your house!"

“So maybe next time, you don’t use nasty slurs and you mind your own business. Then I won’t have to take them.”

“But - “

"Each," she amended. "Shut up, or it'll be fifty."

They both regarded her warily; neither seemed to want to test her. "So now you're a Weasley lover too, Claire?” Flint asked finally.

She glanced over at Rose. "Not especially," she said, the coolness still apparent in her voice. It was clear that the other prefect was sticking up for Scorpius _despite_ his choice of company, not because of it. "But you're still out of order."

They stared at her for another moment before turning to leave. From the way they glanced back at Scorpius, however, Rose could tell that they were far from done.

Scorpius slumped back against the wall and groaned. “Ruin my life, why don’t you,” he muttered, and then looked up at Claire. “Thanks,” he said.

She nodded wordlessly and headed off in the direction of the Great Hall, her light brown curls bouncing behind her. Rose stared at her until she vanished around the corner.

“I thought she’s been angry with you,” she commented after a minute.

Scorpius glanced up in surprise. “What?” After a moment, he processed what she’d said and shrugged. “Oh. She still is, but that typically doesn’t stop her from sticking up for me.” Rose felt a slight stab of jealousy again, and Scorpius added, “Sorry about them.”

“It’s not your fault,” she said.

He shrugged an acknowledgment. “Well, no,” he agreed. “But you might just not want to deal with the drama when you can run off and go out with Finnigan or someone.”

Rose considered that for a moment, as much to see him twitch uncomfortably to reassure herself after her brief moment of jealousy as anything else. “No,” she said. “If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me.”

He smiled slightly and reached out to grab her hand. Albus wrinkled his nose and turned away. “You’re both...” Words seemed to fail him, and he headed off to the Great Hall without waiting for a response.

“I’ve got work to do, but do you want to do something tonight after I’m done?” Rose asked. “I can get the cloak so we don’t have to worry about being caught out of our Common Rooms after hours - we just got lucky last time.”

Scorpius cocked his head to one side. “The cloak?” he asked curiously, and too late, she realized her slip up.

“I - oh, _hell.”_

His face lit up. “I _knew_ it,” he said excitedly. “I _knew_ you had an invisibility cloak.”

She glanced around the empty hallway and hissed, “Lower your voice.” Her heart was beginning to pound. James was going to _kill_ her, especially given his current mood.

“Sorry,” he said in a much softer tone. “But you do, don’t you?” She tried to think of plausible lie, and his grey eyes hardened a little. “Don’t lie to me,” he said. “I told you, I don’t like it.”

Rose briefly considered lying anyway, but when she thought about him getting fed up with her if he ever found out, the idea really bothered her.

She pulled her hand away from his and groaned. “Damn it,” she muttered, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the wall. _“Damn it.”_

“I won’t tell anyone you told me,” Scorpius promised. She opened her eyes to look at him; he looked sincere, but she wasn’t sure whether that was saying much. Slytherins were supposed to be good at lying. “Not even Albus.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You lie to your best friend?”

Scorpius shrugged. “Sometimes. When it makes my life easier.” He seemed to guess what was coming, because he cut it off quickly. “No, Rose, that doesn’t mean I’m going to lie to you. Do I look stupid?”

She considered him for a moment, and he rolled his eyes. “No,” she finally relented.

“If I lie to you, you’ll ditch me,” he said, crossing his arms. “I don’t want you to ditch me. Therefore, I won’t lie to you. It’s pretty simple.”

“Well, we’re not technically going out.”

“Whatever.” Scorpius didn’t seem to think very much more of her rebuttal than she had the moment it left her mouth; when you were snogging a boy on a daily basis in random corridors and making plans to meet him after hours, the line between “going out” and “not going out” did seem rather thin.

“We’re not,” she insisted. “A month ago you hated me.”

He shook his head. “No, a month ago, you hated me,” he corrected her. A slight smile was spreading across his face. “A month ago, I was trying to figure out whether I wanted to wring your neck or kiss you.”

Rose felt her face get a little hot. “Have you decided?” she asked lightly, and his smile broadened.

“Well, now that I know how much fun it is to kiss you, I’m leaning toward the latter.” He reached out and grabbed her hand again, and she allowed him to lead her down the corridor. “You know, I just don’t feel like eating with my house today,” he said lightly. “Can I join you instead?”

She glanced up at him. To her surprise, he seemed serious. “If you’d like.”

As they started walking down the hall, he muttered, “I knew you had a cloak.”

Rose made a face. However much her feelings toward him had changed recently, the very last thing she’d intended to do was make Scorpius Malfoy into a confidant about one of their biggest family secrets. It was one thing for Albus to do it, but her?

He leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Cheer up,” he said. “If it’ll make you feel better, I can tell you about a Malfoy family secret.”

Rose couldn’t stop her nose from wrinkling at the concept. “No, thank you.” She had no idea what secrets the Malfoy family had, but given his family’s background, she was fairly certain that she didn’t want to.

Scorpius shrugged. “Tell me if you change your mind.”

She looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re very strange?” As his laugh echoed down the empty corridor, Rose reconsidered her answer. “Actually, yes,” she said, changing her mind. “Tell me a Malfoy family secret.”

He stopped dead in his tracks and dropped her hand. “Are you serious?”

Rose crossed her arms, feeling very pleased with herself for regaining the upper hand. “Yes. It’s only fair.”

“Because you let it slip out?” he asked incredulously. She opened her mouth, and he shook his head quickly. “No, it’s fine. I will.” He gazed at the wall absentmindedly as he thought.

“Are you serious? It’s taking you that long to think of one?”

Scorpius sighed. “I only said that to make you feel better. The only family secrets we have are boring ones and Death Eater ones. Well,” he amended his statement, “the Greengrasses have other secrets, but Johanna is hardly confiding in me about Auror business.”

“There must be something,” she pressed him.

“I’ll think about it,” he said finally. “Sorry. My family’s really kind of boring these days - with our recent history, we kind of have to be. My dad even still has the scar from the dark mark, you know - he’s tried everything, but he can’t get rid of it. I’ve heard him talking to Mum about it.” He glanced toward the Great Hall, which was just in sight. “Come on. I’m hungry.”

She followed him into the Hall without saying anything else, but inside, she resolved to press the issue further at some point. She had a very hard time believing that a family full of former Death Eaters didn’t have anything to hide. 


	25. Gossip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose fields awkward questions from her friends.
> 
> _“So what’s going on between you and Scorpius Malfoy?”_

Between all the time Rose had been spending with Scorpius and the frequent Quidditch practices, the state of her schoolwork had become truly dire. She was up for at least another hour and a half after everyone else had gone to bed, and even with that, she was going to need to use her free period the next day to finish her Transfiguration assignment.

The only reason she woke up the next morning was that she was literally pulled out of bed.

She had been up until the crack of dawn finishing her schoolwork, and when the other girls in her dorm had begun to move around only a few hours after she had fallen into bed, she’d pulled her pillow over her head and decided to ignore them. It wasn’t a good plan, but she’d been pulling it off until Roxanne stuck her head in and, upon seeing that Rose was still in bed, had taken out her wand and unceremoniously dumped Rose out of her bed and onto the floor.

She ate breakfast with minimal communication with the people around her. When she got to Care of Magical Creatures and Scorpius greeted her with a smile, it was all she could do to keep from groaning.

He looked a little taken aback. “Are you okay?”

“Just tired,” she said, yawning widely. “I was up late finishing my assignments.”

Scorpius frowned. “If you had so much work, why did you spend almost two hours with me after hours last night?”

Rose was too tired to dissemble, so she simply said, “I wanted to.”

Before he could respond, the professor called the class to order. He turned away, but she could see a smile on his lips, and when Woodmore turned around a few minutes later, he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

Rose saw Albus roll his eyes, and she quickly discovered that Albus wasn’t the only person who had noticed. As soon as they sat down to lunch, Holly leaned forward and asked, “So what’s going on between you and Scorpius Malfoy?”

“Do I have to talk about it now?” Rose asked, rubbing her temples. Colleen was all right - she knew a little of it already, after all, and she was almost sure that Damien had heard about it from Scorpius or Albus, if not both - but she wasn’t particularly keen on discussing Scorpius Malfoy with the Gryffindor fifth years as a whole, especially not when she was so exhausted.

“Yes,” Colleen and Holly said together.

“It’s not a big deal.”

Holly turned to Albus, her blonde curls brushing across her shoulders. “He’s your friend. Don’t you know what’s going on?”

Rose’s heart sank. The last thing she needed was Holly latching onto her relationship with Scorpius. Holly was a decent sort, but she could be very silly, very giggly, and very, very gossipy.

Albus shrugged. “No idea. No one ever tells me anything,” he said blandly.

Rose made a face at Damien, who was looking very bored. “Does it really matter?” he asked. “Or were one of you thinking of asking Rose out?”

Rose snorted, and Colleen and Holly both shot him a dirty look. “You’re not the least bit curious?” Holly asked.

“No, I’m not,” he said. “And I don’t see why you are.” They scowled at him, and he asked Rose, rather more loudly than he had to, “How’s Quidditch practice been going? I don’t want to announce at a game Gryffindor loses.”

“Fine,” Rose answered. “Don’t worry. We’ll win.” After a moment, Colleen and Holly allowed Albus to steer them off the topic, though Rose doubted that that would be the end of it.

At least her housemates were just curious, not attacking her - which was certainly preferable to Scorpius’s situation.

When they got up to go to Potions a short while later, Rose deliberately hung back as Damien stuffed the book he’d been reading into his bag.

“Thanks,” she said.

He slung his bag onto his shoulder. “No problem.” They began to make their way past the other house tables in the Great Hall. “Do me a favor, though.”

She glanced over at him. “What?”

Damien’s mouth twitched. “Be nice to him,” he said.

“Why does _everyone_ keep saying that?” Rose exclaimed before she could help herself, and Damien’s smile broadened.

“Who else has said that?”

“Albus,” she muttered. “Noah.” She thought for a minute. “His friend Claire, probably. I think even _James_ has.”

At her tone, Damien cocked his head to one side. “You’re jealous of Claire, aren’t you?”

“No.” He stopped in the doorway of the Great Hall to frown at her, and she sighed. “Maybe a little,” she admitted. She knew that it wasn’t really rational, but according to her mother, romance wasn’t rational. Rose was beginning to believe her.

“Don’t be.” Damien glanced around them before saying very softly, “I think he’d rather go out with the giant squid than her.”

Rose was startled into a giggle. “We should keep walking.” He nodded, and they headed toward the secret passage that would take them down to the dungeons. “He told me that, too, you know,” she said. “About me, I mean. Before things... happened.”

“Well, he was lying to you,” Damien said. “It’s true about her.” Rose wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but thankfully, he changed the subject. However, just before they entered the classroom, he added, “Oh, if you talk to him before I do, tell him that I wasn’t trying to steal his girlfriend back.”

Between Lindsay Pritchard blowing up her cauldron again and the nasty bite she got in Herbology, Rose was feeling quite awake as she left the greenhouse that afternoon, despite her lack of sleep.

She stopped suddenly when she saw Scorpius sitting under a nearby tree. He appeared to be completely absorbed in a book. Colleen and Holly, who had already left the greenhouse looked from him to Rose curiosity. Holly let out a loud giggle, while Colleen contented herself with a wink.

Scorpius looked up as she approached. “Hi,” he said, putting the book away and standing up.

“Hi,” she replied, feeling a little confused.

“Charms let out a little early,” he said awkwardly. “I thought I’d come down here and meet you. To see if you wanted to do anything.” He swallowed audibly. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah,” Rose said after a moment. “Sure.” He shifted uncomfortably, and she said, “Yes, it is. I’m sorry. I’m just a little slow today. Not enough sleep.”

“Oh.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Um. Well, we don’t have to do anything, if you want to go sleep or something. I just thought I’d ask.”

“I want to,” she said quickly. “As long as you don’t mind me being a little stupid.”

He was shaking his head when they heard Albus’s voice. “I’m feeling a little hurt, Scorpius,” he said from the door to the greenhouse. He was leaving it with Damien and a Ravenclaw named Sawyer Ackerly. “All this time we’ve been friends, and you’ve never come to meet me after class.”

Scorpius snorted. “I see you plenty, Al,” he called back, “and I’ve also never wanted to kiss you.”

“Whereas you’ve been dying for my cousin to discover your charm so you can kiss her,” Albus replied, coming to a stop in front of them. “I get it. I get it. I’m feeling ignored and abandoned, but I expect I’ll get over it.”

Rose stuck her tongue out at her cousin as Scorpius said, “I have every faith in you.”

The three boys walked away, and just as Rose was about to say something to Scorpius, the last of the girls left the greenhouse. They also giggled when they saw Rose and Scorpius standing with each other, and once they’d passed, Rose glanced over at Scorpius. She was amused to see that his face had gotten a little red.

“Embarrassed to be seen with me?” he asked.

Rose tried to stop herself from smiling, but she didn’t manage to do a very good job. “Nah. People keep telling me you’re really very fit and they’re a little jealous.”

This was clearly news to him. “Oh. Well, too bad for them, huh? I like my women red-haired and obnoxious.” He slipped an arm around her waist before she could shove him. “Come on, I’m joking. What do you want to do?”

She thought for a moment. “Would you play a game of chess?”

“Sure,” he said, looking a little taken aback. “I’ll go get my set. Where do you want to play?”

She chewed on her lip as she thought. “We could just play in the Room of Requirement,” she suggested tentatively.

“Sure,” he said very quickly. Rose raised her eyebrows, and he widened his eyes innocently. “It’s just a good idea. I’m not expecting anything.”

“Good.”

“Anyway, we did that last night,” he added. This time, she _did_ elbow him, and he grinned at her. “Admit it, Rose. I’ve grown on you.”

“A little,” she agreed. “Have I grown on you?”

“Well, maybe just a bit,” he said as they approached the castle. Rose heard a brief roll of thunder in the distance, and she grimaced. James had booked the pitch for after dinner, and it would be just her luck if the lull in the rain ended right when she had to get to the field.

Once they got inside, she headed up to Gryffindor tower, and was glad to see that most of her yearmates, including Albus and Colleen, had dawdled elsewhere for awhile rather than return to the Common Room.

When she got to the room with her own set, Scorpius was already there. It was very similar to what it had been when he and Albus had wandered in on her enjoying a quiet cup of tea.

“Can I trust you not to poison me?” she asked as she sat down across from him. A mug of tea was sitting on the table next to her.

“Nah. I have a policy where I don’t poison girls I’m involved with, especially not when it’s you. I have a feeling it would make you less likely to want to go out with me, and I’m also pretty sure your cousin would jinx me again if I did… and my hair’s finally back to the right color. I’d rather it stay that way.”

Rose started setting up her chess pieces. “Good instincts.”

“The sorting hat seriously considered putting me in Ravenclaw, you know.” When she looked up, she saw that he was grinning. “Just thought I’d remind you. The hat didn’t consider you for Ravenclaw, after all.”

She smiled back. “We’ll see who’s smarter than who after I win this game.”

“If you play chess the way you go through life, I don’t have anything to worry about,” he said playfully.

Instead of answering, she directed one of her knights forward.

Rose was very good at chess. She was used to winning; it had been years since anyone but her father had beaten her, and since he’d given her and her brother his set to use at school - her mother had started to refuse to play with him when Rose was seven - she felt very confident.

Fifteen minutes later, that confidence hadn’t dissipated. Scorpius put up a good fight, but once she’d feinted him into giving up his queen, it was only a matter of time before she maneuvered him into a checkmate.

He sat back. “You _are_ good.”

Rose smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “So are you. You almost had me.”

“No, I didn’t, but thanks,” he replied with good humor. Rose was beginning to realize that when he wasn’t dealing with deeply conflicted emotions and what he’d assumed were unrequited feelings toward her, he really was fairly easygoing.

But it was another thing to shrug off a bad game, and she liked him more for it. She’d been wondering how he’d take it. “Do you want a rematch?”

He shook his head. “Not just now. My pride’s already taken a bruising.”

“Do you want to do something else?” she asked.

“Like what?” She raised her eyebrows, and he threw back his head and laughed.

When they arrived in the Great Hall for dinner, Rose paused at the end of the Slytherin table.

Scorpius gestured to the table with his free hand. “Do you want to join me?” he asked.

She snorted and pulled her hand away from his. “I’ll sit at the Slytherin table the day I give up Quidditch and decide that my life’s ambition is to join the Department of Magical Transportation.”

He whistled. “Harsh. If you feel that way about Slytherins, I’m not sure why you’re making time every day to sneak off and kiss one.”

“Oh, shut up.” She made her way over to the Gryffindor table. She found Albus halfway up the table, slid into the seat between him and Roxanne, and let herself be drawn into the chatter about the upcoming Quidditch match.

When they’d finished eating dinner and were waiting for the arrival of dessert, Rose stretched and asked, “Anyone up for a game of exploding snap after practice?”

James raised his eyebrows at her. “Don’t you have schoolwork to do?” he asked.

Rose stared at him. He seemed serious. “You’re joking, right?”

To her dismay, Roxanne joined in. “Rosie, you don’t want to get to Sunday and have all of your assignments to do, and you know you’re not going to want to do any after practice tomorrow.”

Even the delicious-looking pie that appeared in front of them couldn’t distract Rose from her sudden irritation. “But I’m tired,” she whined. Her cousins didn’t acknowledge her, and she sighed. “I’m so tired of work.”

“Welcome to O.W.L. year,” James said as he slid a very generous slice of pie onto his plate. “You’ll survive.”

“I hate them,” Rose muttered to Albus, who made a face.

“I do, too,” he said irritably. “I’ve already gotten the lecture.” He tossed his brother a dirty look. “It’s _Friday,_ James.”

James looked up from his pie at them and shrugged. “Just spend an hour on your Herbology essay or something,” he said. “That’s what I’m doing. Then we’ll play.” He popped a forkful of pie into his mouth. “Look, that’s how you get things done,” he said after he’d swallowed and Rose and Albus were still looking rather morose. “You spend an hour here and an hour there that you wouldn’t have done much with, anyway. It adds up.”

Rose really hated it when James was the voice of reason.

“I know you’re right,” she said after a moment. “I don’t mind usually, but I’m just so exhausted.” She’d gotten her second wind in Herbology, but it was starting to desert her.

Roxanne slid a slice of pie onto her plate. “So go to bed early tonight,” she suggested.

“I plan on it.”

Despite her and Albus’s sentiments about James’s suggestion, they both managed to finish their Herbology essays, and Rose even managed to get through half of Ancient Runes before she declared herself done with work for the night. James threw down his quill with gusto, and after a few minutes, Albus - who had been blinking wearily at his Muggle Studies textbook for the last half hour - and Roxanne did the same. After their second game of exploding snap, Rose headed up to her dormitory, knowing that she had a long day ahead of her.


	26. One Step Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose discovers that Scorpius has been bragging.
> 
> _"Well, he’s_ really _fit, don’t you think?”_

The next day dawned drizzly and damp, but despite Rose’s worst predictions, the weather did not get worse as the day went on. By the time they were heading back out onto the pitch after a quick lunch, the sun was peeking through the clouds, and the rain had stopped.

Perhaps because of this, the team was feeling downright cheerful as they headed back up to the castle late that afternoon, despite aches from being on a broom for most of the day and a few new bruises from bludger hits.

Roxanne had been right; Rose was not in any mood to do work. She knew that the next day was bound to be terrible if she didn’t, but couldn’t find it in her to care. Instead, she enjoyed a nice long soak in the bath before heading downstairs for dinner.

“How was practice?” Albus asked when she took a seat next to him.

“Good,” she replied. “Long, though. I’m glad we have tomorrow off. I don’t know how much longer I could sit on a broom without wanting to die.”

After they’d eaten, Rose headed back upstairs with her yearmates and settled in next to the fire with Albus, Colleen, and Damien. Colleen made a half-hearted attempt to bring up Scorpius again, but without Holly there to back her up, she was dissuaded relatively easily. They were discussing the results of the day’s Quidditch matches when James climbed through the portrait hole and slumped in one of the armchairs. Rose nudged Albus and jerked her head toward James.

He frowned and stood up. “Be back in a few minutes,” he told the others. Rose followed him over to his brother.

James looked up as they approached. “I didn’t do it,” he said immediately.

“Didn’t do what?” Albus asked suspiciously as they settled into the chairs on either side of James.

“Whatever you think I did,” his brother said promptly. They both stared at him, until eventually he shifted and said, a little irritably, “Oh, fine. Roxanne’s just annoyed with me again.”

“Why?” Albus asked, clearly completely caught off-guard.

“She thinks that if I just ask Marion out, it will solve all the problems we’ve been having.” James rubbed his forehead. “Like, officially. I told her to leave me alone.”

“Well, why don’t you?” Albus asked.

“Out to where, exactly?”

“Just, you know... out...” Albus trailed off, and his brother rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, exactly. This Hogsmeade weekend is for family, and our next one isn’t until November. That’s a month away, and I’m not asking anyone out a month before the actual date.”

“But what if she gets sick of waiting for you and finds someone else?” Albus asked.

“She won’t.”

Albus looked from James to Rose. “I don’t understand how you both can be so damned confident,” he said.

Rose shrugged, and James said, “Acting confident is a huge step in that direction, little brother.”

Rose was suddenly reminded of something James had once told her. “It’s like with wild animals,” she put in. “You just can’t show them that you’re scared.”

Albus seemed to consider saying something, but after a moment, he decided not to comment. “I don’t understand why I’m the one without a girlfriend,” he said instead. “You’re both terrible.”

“Don’t tempt fate,” Rose warned him. “Now you’ll have some troll asking you out.”

He laughed. After a few more minutes, James got up and headed over to the staircase that led to the boys’ dormitories, and Rose and Albus rejoined their friends.

Before the evening was over, Holly and Alex both came over to join them. The conversation eventually turned back to Scorpius. Alex seemed almost as keen as Colleen and Holly to hear all about it, and though his interest didn’t feel malicious, it nonetheless made her even more uncomfortable than the girls’ probing.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said for the third time, shifting uncomfortably.

“Well,” Holly said brightly, “I think that there’s not a better Slytherin you could have chosen.” She tossed her silky blond hair across her shoulder and waited expectantly.

Rose knew what was coming, but Albus didn’t. “Why’s that?” he asked.

Holly nudged him playfully. “Well, he’s _really_ fit, don’t you think?”

Albus glanced over at Rose, who was curled up on his other side, with a bemused look on his face. She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing - she had heard more than enough of this already to be even remotely surprised. “I’ve never really thought about it,” he said, turning back to Holly. “He’s not _my_ boyfriend.”

Rose’s smirk was immediately wiped off her face, and she extended her leg a little to kick her cousin. He grinned at her as Holly leaned around him, looking excited. “So he _is_ your boyfriend, then?”

“I heard him telling a few of the Slytherin sixth years that you were his girlfriend,” Colleen put in, twisting around in her armchair so she could see Rose’s reaction.

With great difficulty, Rose resisted the urge to say, “Of course he did.” Instead, she shrugged, trying to ignore how hot her face suddenly felt. “What he says is his business,” she said, making a mental note to ask Scorpius _exactly_ what he’d said.

“But-”

“I’ve already said this once, but apparently it bears repeating,” Damien cut in. “Unless any of you were planning to ask Rose out, I don’t see why you care so much about who she is or isn’t going out with.”

“We’re _curious,”_ Holly told him.

He didn’t look impressed. “I’m curious about how you’ve passed your first four years of Potions, considering that you barely know how to stand a cauldron up the right way, but you don’t see me digging into it.”

After that, Holly avoided mentioning Scorpius at all, which effectively put a stop to Colleen and Alex’s questions as well.

Rose was just as happy for that, but she did find Damien’s obvious distaste for the subject a bit odd, and she said so to Albus once the rest of the fifth years had headed up to their dormitories.

“Damien _really_ doesn’t seem to want to hear me say anything about Scorpius,” she commented.

Her cousin glanced toward the staircase that led to the boys’ dormitories to make sure their friend really had gone upstairs before nodding. “You noticed that, too, huh?”

“Yeah. Do you know why?”

Albus considered the statement for a minute before responding. Rose had always liked Damien and gotten on with him quite well - he’d even been her first boyfriend, though they’d broken up within the space of a few months and had never done anything too serious. As with most of their classmates, however, Albus knew him better.

“I’m not sure,” her cousin said slowly. “He and Scorpius are pretty good friends, you know. It might just make him uncomfortable to hear people gossiping about his friend.” She gave him a skeptical look, and he sighed. “Yeah, I know. It seems like it’s more than that, doesn’t it?”

An awful idea occurred to Rose. “You don’t think he still likes me, do you?

Albus snorted. “Anything’s possible, I guess, but I really doubt it.”

He sounded very sure of himself, and Rose found herself breathing a sigh of relief. The very last thing she needed was more drama. Talking to her fellow fifth-years about Scorpius already left her with more than enough of it.

“Though, you know,” Albus started, and her heart leapt into her throat again. “Maybe part of it is that he doesn’t want to think too hard about _when_ Scorpius started liking you.”

“Why should that matter?”

Albus smiled slightly. “Well, I mean, like I told you the other day, I think it was probably going on while the two of you were going out, at least subconsciously.” He glanced toward the staircase again before adding, “And if that’s true, it puts a bit of a different spin on why Scorpius was avoiding him back then.”

Rose stared at him. She hadn’t really gotten around to putting all those pieces together, probably in part because she hadn’t ever really paid close attention to whether Scorpius and Damien were good friends or whether Scorpius had been avoiding him the previous autumn. Now that Albus had laid it out for her, however, she could see why Damien might be so reluctant to hear any of the details, and his comment about telling Scorpius that he wasn’t trying to steal Rose back suddenly made a lot more sense.

Albus snapped his fingers in front of her face, and she started. “Rosie, it’s not a big deal. Don’t think too hard about it. Just hide behind Damien whenever Holly starts going on about it.” Rose envisioned herself literally hiding behind Damien and gave a snort of amusement - the other boy was almost as slender as she was, so she doubted he’d do all that good a job of hiding her.

In the comfortable silence that followed this statement, Rose remembered what Colleen had said. “Did Scorpius really tell some sixth years that I was his girlfriend?”

Her cousin snorted. “Not exactly.” She didn’t take her eyes off him, and after a moment, he elaborated. “I’m pretty sure he didn’t use the word ‘girlfriend,’ but I know they asked him if he was really going out with Rose Weasley, and he said something along the lines of, ‘Kind of, yeah.’”

Rose wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that. “Oh.”

Albus shrugged. “He was just bragging, Rosie.”

_“Bragging?”_

“Mm.” He smiled. “Why don’t you ask him about it?”

“Oh, I will.”

When Rose woke up the next morning, however, she found that she was not entirely sure that she wanted to get into it with Scorpius, at least not that day. It just seemed like it had the potential to get very, very awkward very, very quickly, and she was finding that not fighting with Scorpius was generally preferable to their arguments.

When she got down to the Great Hall for breakfast shortly after nine, however, she didn’t see Scorpius among the Slytherins. It was possible that she’d missed him, of course, but his hair was very distinctive, even when it was his natural color. When she found Noah sitting with Albus at the Gryffindor table, he confirmed that Scorpius was not there.

“He’s still sleeping,” Noah said cheerfully. “Scorp doesn’t really like mornings, especially when he’s been up half the night doing schoolwork.”

Rose snorted as she poured herself some apple juice. “Scorp?”

Noah shrugged as he began to slather his pancakes with golden syrup. “When you were two, would you have been able to say ‘Scorpius’?” He glanced up, and she shook her head. “Neither could I. He was Scorp and I was No until we were about four. I still occasionally use it.” He grinned. “He doesn’t like it very much, so I’ve tried to break myself of the habit.”

Rose filed that information away for future reference. Next time Scorpius started making fun of her for the profile comment, she’d have something good to pull out.

“Why was he up so late on a Saturday doing work, anyway?” Albus asked curiously as Noah began to eat.

His friend considered the question while he chewed, and after he’d swallowed, he said, “He wanted to get most of it out of the way so he could haunt the library in hopes of bumping into the girl he’s not going out with accidentally-on-purpose.”

Rose giggled. “Should you really be telling me that?”

Noah shrugged again. “It’s not like you don’t already know that that’s the sort of thing he might do,” he pointed out. “And the way I see it, I’m doing him a favor by telling you. Now you’ll probably go to the library.”

That was certainly one way to look at it, and after Rose had gone back up to the Gryffindor Common Room and gotten a bit of work done, she decided to gather up her books and wander down to the library in hopes of running into the boy she wasn’t going out with.

Technically.

“Where are you going?” Roxanne asked as Rose began to stuff books into her bag.

“Library.”

“Want some company?”

Rose shook her head as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “No,” she said. “I’m okay. Good luck.”

Roxanne made a little shooing motion with her hand, and Rose made her way to the portrait hole and climbed out, glad that Roxanne had not decided to insist on following her. Neither Roxanne nor James tended to like the library - they said that it was entirely too quiet and stuffy - but it would be just Rose’s luck that now that she finally had a reason to be happy to be in the library by herself, they’d change their minds.


	27. A Break by the Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius take a study break.
> 
> _“The Greengrasses? They’re your kind of people.”_

When Rose got to the library, she was a little disappointed when she didn’t see Scorpius. She made her way to a table by the windows and tossed her bag onto the table before sliding into one of the chairs.

She was just opening up one of her books when someone put their hands over her eyes. “Guess who.”

Ordinarily, Rose would have immediately guessed her cousin Lucy, who was the only person she knew who really did that on a regular basis. However, this voice was clearly male.

It was also getting to be quite familiar.

“Scorpius, stop it.”

He pulled his hands away and dropped into the chair next to her, looking pleased with himself.

“Morning,” he said cheerfully.

It was almost noon, but she decided not to comment on his liberal definition of the word. “Morning,” she replied. “I didn’t see you when I came in.”

“Were you looking for me?” he asked.

She shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe,” she said. He looked at her skeptically. “All right, yes, I was. Your cousin told me you might be here.” She eyed him. He couldn’t have been up _that_ late, because sleeping in had clearly left him well-rested; his eyes were full of mischief, and he’d clearly spent more time on his hair than usual that morning - it had a similar sort of intentionally messy look that she saw regularly from her cousin James, and she knew it took work to make it stick that way. “Do you have any work with you at all?”

He jerked his head toward the isolated table by the restricted section. A book was lying open on it. “Over there,” he said. “But I don’t really need to do it, I’ve already done most of my work.”

“I heard.” At her dry tone, his face coloured slightly, but the grin did not disappear. “I do have to get some work done, though, so go get it.”

He made a face. “You’re no fun.” She raised her eyebrows, and he leaned forward to brush his lips against hers. “I’ll be right back.”

She watched him as he made his way back to his table, but swiveled her head back to her book before he turned around. If he caught her out at it, he’d be on about it for weeks.

After a minute, he slipped back into his seat and tossed the book, quill, and parchment on the table. “How was practice yesterday?” he asked.

“All right,” she said, pushing her book, parchment, and quill away from her. She could afford to take a short break. “Exhausting, though. I’m really sore today.”

“Is Quidditch always this tiring?” he asked. “Doesn’t seem worth it.”

She shook her head, wishing _she’d_ done more with her hair than just brush it. He didn’t seem to mind her lack of attention to it, but she did, at least a little. “The first two months of school are always hard, especially this year, because I didn’t play as much over the summer as I usually do. I just need to get back in form.” She didn’t add that she also needed to get back in shape - not practicing much over the summer had definitely done more than dull her reflexes. It had dulled her muscles, too. At this point she was mostly back to herself, but it still took a lot more out her than it usually would.

He looked sympathetic, and after an awkward pause where he didn’t seem to know quite what to say, he surprised her by telling her that he’d be rooting for her team in the first match. Even his friendship with Albus had never stopped Scorpius from loudly and enthusiastically rooting against Gryffindor in Quidditch, no matter who they were playing.

Rose was even more surprised at how touching she found the sentiment.

After a few more minutes of chatting, she stole a look at her work and sighed. “I really should do this,” she said reluctantly, and they turned to their work. When she pushed her essay away half an hour later, she was surprised to find that the library was almost completely empty. “Where is everyone?”

Scorpius glanced over at her, and then up at the deserted room. “They probably went to lunch,” he said. “Are you hungry?” She shook her head. “I’m not, either. I went down to the kitchens before coming up here, and the house elves fed me. I’m so glad Albus showed me where that was our first year, it’s been such a life saver.”

She stretched. “My neck is so sore right now,” she complained. “And I hate work.”

Her not-quite-boyfriend-yet nudged her. “Then let’s go outside and take a walk.” She hesitated and he said, “Come on, you know you need the break, and you know you want it to be with me.”

That got a laugh out of her. “All right,” she agreed. “Let me just go drop these off and get a sweater.”

They agreed to meet down by the exit that let to the grounds in ten or fifteen minutes and parted ways. The Gryffindor Common Room was empty when Rose breezed through, as was her dormitory. She grabbed a red sweater and made her way back down the stairs. When she got to their designated meeting place, Scorpius was already waiting there, and as they made their way down the steps, he tentatively reached out to take her hand.

She let him.

They wandered down to the lake and settled under the tree they’d been under when she’d first kissed him. He leaned back against the trunk. She considered sitting in front of him and leaning back to rest her head on his shoulder, but after a moment, she decided that doing so would be too couply, and they weren’t really _quite_ a couple. It would just be awkward and uncomfortable and give him the wrong idea and -

“Sit down, will you?”

She looked down at him. He’d chosen a spot that many Hogwarts students had used over the years; the trunk of the tree was charmed so that it was much smoother than it would be naturally, and if there had ever been uncomfortable rocks or roots on the ground in front of it, they had long since been cleared away. He looked extremely comfortable, and his face was completely void of all of the nastiness and dislike that had pervaded their relationship for the previous four years.

He certainly hadn’t given any impression over the last month that her being forward was at all a problem for him. She came to a decision and circled around to sit down on top of his crossed legs.

Scorpius let out a sigh, and she looked up at him quickly. “Is this okay?” she asked. “I can move. I -”

He shifted to spread his legs, putting her between them rather than on top of them, and pulled her against his chest. “This is _great.”_

Rose felt a slight smile spread across her face as she looked out across the water. It was little overcast and there was a breeze blowing across the lake, but it was still warm enough that in a jumper, the weather was refreshing rather than uncomfortable, even though they were sitting still.

She cuddled up to Scorpius and rested her head against his shoulder. “It’s beautiful out,” she murmured. “Thanks for getting me to take a walk.”

“Mm,” he agreed. There was a moment of hesitation, and then he said, “Rose, not that I’m complaining, but are you okay?”

She twisted her neck to look up at him. “Of course I am,” she said in surprise. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

His expression was a little bemused. “You not usually this...” He stopped to consider his next word. “Affectionate,” he finally came up with. “Usually you’re more interested in kissing me and then making fun of me and then kissing me again, but I don’t think you’ve mocked me once today.”

Rose considered starting her answer with calling him Scorp, but decided against it. “I dunno,” she said. “I don’t really feel like teasing you today. Are you sure you’re not complaining?”

He threw back his head and laughed. “No. I expect you’ll be back to your old self soon enough.” She couldn’t really bring herself to laugh along with him, and after a moment, he looked down. “Rose, I don’t mind,” he said, tightening his grip. “I already knew you could be a jerk sometimes when we starting going out. Or whatever,” he added belatedly.

“So you think of me as your girlfriend?” she asked. She hadn’t been planning to bring it up, but the opportunity had landed in her lap.

She felt rather than heard him sigh. “Yes,” he admitted after a minute. “Of course I do.”

“Is that why you’ve been telling all the sixth years that I’m your girlfriend?”

She nudged him when he didn’t respond, and this time, she _did_ hear his sigh. “Well, they asked if we were going out. What was I supposed to say? ‘No, we just sneak off and snog in abandoned corridors?’ Do you know how that makes either of us look?”

Rose considered that for a moment. She hadn’t really thought about it that way, but now that he brought it up, she could see how some people could get an impression that was less than favorable. She hadn’t expected Scorpius to be the type to care about it, though, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was more worried about her reputation or his.

“You might not think of me that way, exactly,” he continued, “but -”

“I do,” she interrupted, and he stopped talking immediately. “I just...”

When it was clear she wasn’t going to continue, he asked, “So what’s stopping you from just admitting that I’m your boyfriend?”

Rose’s feelings toward Scorpius had certainly changed since they’d gotten back to school, and right now he did feel more like a boyfriend than anything else. However, the idea of saying, “Scorpius Malfoy is my boyfriend” was enough to make her giggle.

“Come on, Scorpius,” she said. “Can you really imagine saying, ‘This is my girlfriend, Rose Weasley?’” Before he could say anything, she added, “I don’t mean answer someone when they ask, I mean actually say it.” When she looked up at him, she saw that his nose was wrinkled.

“Ugh.”

She spun around out of his grip. “Told you,” she said triumphantly.

He scrunitized her for a moment before leaning forward and putting his hands on her cheeks. Rose could feel her heart start to beat faster as he leaned in to kiss her, and when he began to pull back, she followed him.

When they finally parted, his eyes were slightly glassy. “This is my girlfriend, Rose,” he said, panting slightly.

“Doesn’t count.” She paused to catch her breath. “You have to use my last name.”

He made a face but gave it a try. When he got to ‘Weasley,’ however, he couldn’t even manage to get the first syllable out before breaking off, looking disgusted. After another failed attempt, he leaned in to kiss her again.

“This is my girlfriend Rose Weas-” He stopped. “Ugh. Why couldn’t you have been a Potter? I don’t _like_ hardly any of the Weasleys. I like most of the Potters. I wouldn’t have any trouble saying, ‘This is my girlfriend, Rose Potter.’”

“Well, I’m not a Potter,” she said. “And you can’t dislike all of us.”

He considered that for a minute. “Not quite,” he admitted. “The non-Gryffindors are easier to take, except for Dominique. She's...” Scorpius trailed off. “I don’t want you to yell at me for insulting a beloved cousin,” he said.

“Domi is a bit hard to take,” Rose admitted. “I love her, but she is. She could learn a couple things about tact from her sister.”

“Oh, her.” Scorpius snapped his fingers. “Victoire, right? I’ve actually really met her, _and_ I liked her.”

Rose stared at him. “When on earth did you meet Vic?” Victoire had only been at Hogwarts with them for a year, and she doubted her cousin would have made much of an impression on Scorpius.

He shrugged. “She’s come by with her boyfriend a few times when I was staying with Al.” Rose’s confusion disappeared - that made sense, and she was surprised it hadn’t occurred to her. “And her boyfriend is one of my cousin Johanna’s best friends,” he added.

Rose turned around again and leaned back into him. “I don’t know anything about your family,” she admitted. “Not really.”

“You’re interested?” He sounded surprised.

She shifted so she could see his face more easily. “Yes. Isn’t that a thing girlfriends are supposed to do?” He looked even more surprised by that, so she added, “What’s wrong, _Scorp?”_

He groaned and shoved her gently. “You heard that from Noah, didn’t you?” She nodded, and he shot a dark look toward the castle. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Oh, come on, _Scorp,_ don’t take everything so seriously,” she said, and he rolled his eyes.

“Hey, Red, love your profile,” he shot back. On its face, this wasn’t so different from many of the other encounters they’d had over the last four years, but it lacked all the malice it had had even a month ago.

She butted her head against him, and he laughed. “I’m serious,” she said.

“I know.” After a moment, she felt him beginning to run his fingers through her hair, and she sighed blissfully. “Let’s avoid talking about the Malfoys today,” he said. “This is nice, and I don’t want you to ruin it by being an idiot.”

Rose let the statement float by her without making too much of a fuss - she knew herself well enough to know that what he was afraid of could happen quite easily, and she was feeling far too relaxed to want to risk it. It was a conversation that she knew they would have to have sometime, and she couldn’t imagine it would go particularly well. “What about your mum’s family, then?”

She could feel the vibrations of a laugh in his chest. “The Greengrasses? They’re your kind of people. If you ever meet my mum, just mention your career plans and she’ll probably be at me to marry you or something.”

Even a passing mention of marriage usually would have been enough to make her uncomfortable, but the idea of marrying _Scorpius Malfoy,_ of all people, was so ludicrous to her that she giggled.

He laughed along with her before listing off the careers his various Greengrass relatives had chosen. By the time he had finished, she was quite impressed. Scorpius was right - she probably would like his Greengrass relatives just fine. None of them were in the D.C.B., but he had an uncle in Werewolf Capture, a cousin in Dragon Research, and his cousin Johanna was even an Auror - and she, he said pointedly, had been in Slytherin while she was at Hogwarts.

She decided that in this situation, not responding to that was probably the best thing she could do. “What happened to you, then?” she teased instead.

“Someone needs to patch all of you up.”

It took her a moment to process that he’d included her in that statement, and once she had, she felt a pleasant warmth spread through her. “So you really want to be a Healer, then?” she asked.

“I’m thinking about it a lot,” he said. “If I do, though, don’t worry. I won’t slip anything into your potion by accident.”

They sat by the lake for almost an hour, and by the time they got up, Rose could not remember why she’d spent four years dislike Scorpius Malfoy so heartily.

“Hey, Rose?” he said as they were walking back up to the castle.

“Hmm?”

“This is my girlfriend, Rose Weasley.” When she looked over at him, he was grinning. “Your turn.”


	28. Pushing the Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius make Albus generally uncomfortable.
> 
> _“As glad as I am that you two are getting along, could you try to- er- get along a little less?”_

Rose gave it her best effort, but in the end, all she could manage was a strangled “This is my boyfriend, Scorpius.” Her opinion about his family had reformed somewhat since the beginning of the year, largely as a result of her rapidly changing opinion about him - Scorpius clearly liked his father a lot, and now that Rose knew Scorpius better, she had a hard time believing that his father really could be all that bad.

Still. Four years of habit were difficult to overcome, and whatever he said about disliking the Weasleys, she thought that she had the harder time of it. He disliked Weasleys because he found some of them personally obnoxious; she had issues with the Malfoys because Scorpius’s grandfather had definitely killed wizards and probably killed Muggles for sport.

“Sorry,” she muttered as they stood awkwardly by the stairs that would lead her up to Gryffindor tower.

He shrugged. “I get it,” he said cheerfully. “You can only call me by one name at a time. Now that you’ve moved on to Scorpius, the Malfoy bit had to go.”

“That’s about right.” He smiled before turning to go back down the stairs. “Hey, Scorpius?” He stopped and looked back. “Do you - er - want to meet me in the library? In ten minutes?”

The smile hadn’t quite faded from his lips, and now it broadened again. “I’d love to,” he said. As she started up the stairs, he called after her, “I knew you’d come around.”

She rolled her eyes and continued on without turning around. “You just keep telling yourself that.”

She retrieved her books and made her way back to the library. Once she arrived, she found that Scorpius wasn’t there yet, but it was significantly more crowded than it had been earlier in the day. Thankfully, there were still a few tables by the windows that were available, and she tossed her bag onto one of them and sat down next to the window.

Scorpius arrived a few minutes later, and unlike Rose, he was not alone. When the two boys arrived at the table Rose was sitting at, she asked, “Did you decide we needed a chaperone?”

Albus snorted as he slid into the chair directly across from Rose. “Still don’t understand why I’m friends with him?”

“Yes,” she said blithely. “You don’t get to kiss him, and that’s at least half the appeal.”

Scorpius pushed one of the remaining chairs a little closer to her before he sat down in it. “No, it isn’t.”

She smiled at him, but turned back to her book rather than respond. She couldn’t think of any witty comeback, and “You’re right” just seemed to much like conceding defeat.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Albus turn his head slightly to watch someone across the library for a moment before looking back at his essay. She tried to ignore him, but he continued to fidget, and after about ten minutes of it, she snapped. “What is it, Albus?”

Scorpius looked up from his book in interest as Albus looked back at the parchment in front of him. “Nothing.”

Scorpius glanced off in the direction Al kept turning toward, and his expression soured. “Great. Do you think their new plan is to just annoy me into breaking up with Rose?”

Rose decided not to quibble with her terminology, particularly given that she’d spent about ten minutes trying to call him her boyfriend that afternoon. Instead, she followed his gaze and saw two of the fifth-year Slytherin girls. Rose had never really paid attention to Vera Zabini before, but Scorpius was right: her nose really _was_ very unfortunate looking.

She also remembered someone - she wasn’t sure whether it had been Scorpius or Albus - telling her that Vera had tried more than once to convince Scorpius he really did want to date her and abandon all of his beliefs in favor of hers. While it was clear that Scorpius had not been remotely tempted by such a ridiculous proposition, Rose still found it thoroughly irritating.

She edged her chair to the right to close the last few centimeters between them, and then she leaned over and whispered in his ear, “You know, I never noticed it, but she does look a bit like a toad, doesn’t she?”

He started as she brushed her lips across his neck. “Rose, what the-” She bit down gently, and he nearly jumped out of his seat.

“Even with my awful personality, I can see why you’d prefer me to her,” Rose said to him, still keeping her voice very low. At that, he threw back his head and laughed loudly. When Rose glanced over at the girls, they looked like a dungbomb had gone off in their vicinity.

She lifted up her hand and wiggled her fingers in a wave before raising her other hand to Scorpius’s cheek and gently turning his head enough so she could kiss him. After he got over his initial shock, he wrapped both of his arms around her, pulling her over so far that she was virtually perched on his seat.

Albus cleared his throat, and Rose broke away to look at him. He had a politely bemused expression on his face. “As glad as I am that you two are getting along, could you try to - er - _get along_ a little less?”

Rose felt her face flush. “Sorry,” she muttered. She started to slide back onto her chair, but before she could, Scorpius tightened his grip around her and leaned in to whisper, “You know, your personality really _is_ growing on me, Red.”

She made a face at him. He laughed again and let her go.

As Rose had returned to her seat, Albus pointed out mildly, “You know, Scorpius, that’s _exactly_ the kind of display you used to complain about.”

Scorpius shrugged his friend’s comment off. “I didn’t realize how much fun it could be. And besides, _I_ wasn’t getting anything out of it then.”

Albus stared at him for long enough that Scorpius shifted uncomfortably despite himself. Then Albus looked back down at his essay and muttered something that sounded an awful lot like “Slytherins.”

It was so uncharacteristic that it took Rose a moment to process what he’d said - Albus rarely poked fun at any House but his own. Once she did, she felt a gleeful grin spread across her face. Scorpius, however, seemed significantly less amused.

“What did you say?” he asked Albus.

Albus looked up from the parchment. “I think you heard me,” he said. Rose saw a hint of a smile on her cousin’s lips - he suddenly put her in mind of James at his most insincere appeasement. Scorpius seemed to be at a loss for words, and after a long moment, Albus said, “If you don’t like it, don’t act like it.”

“I don’t know how else to act,” Scorpius snapped and shoved his chair back. “I’m going to go get a book. Or something.”

Rose and Albus watched him stalk over to one of the bookshelves, and after he’d left earshot, Rose caught her cousin’s eye. He tried to keep a straight face, but he was fighting a losing battle; as soon as she started to giggle, he broke into a laugh himself.

“I probably shouldn’t have done that,” he managed to say after a minute. “But I had to.” Rose wasn’t even trying to fight her giggles, and after a moment, Albus cocked his head to one side. “You really _do_ like him, don’t you?”

Her giggles immediately stopped. “I-” Her cousin raised his eyebrows, and she sighed. “Yes,” she admitted. “I do.”

Albus pulled his Herbology book toward him and ran his quill down the page. When he moved back to his essay, he said, “I told you so,” under his breath. Rose kicked him lightly, and he grinned without looking up. “Well, I did.”

Scorpius eventually returned, and to Rose’s surprise, he actually had a book with him. He tossed it onto the table, where it landed with an audible thud, but rather than sit back down, he rested one of his elbows on the top of her chair and trailed a finger from his other hand lightly down her face. She shuddered involuntarily, and he let out a soft chuckle before beginning to play with her hair.

She was about to say something, though she had no idea what, when Albus spoke. “Mature,” he said dryly. “Really mature, Scorpius.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Scorpius said, and she twisted around in her chair to examine his face. There was a slight but noticeable smirk on it.

“Oh,” Albus said, and she looked back at her cousin. “Sorry. My mistake. I thought that you were trying to make me uncomfortable by flaunting how much you can get away with with my favorite cousin without her telling you to stop.”

“I wouldn’t do something like that,” Scorpius said innocently, and Albus rolled his eyes.

“Good,” he said. “Because it’s not working.”

Contrary to his claim, however, Albus was starting to look quite uncomfortable, so when Scorpius began to run his fingers through her hair again, she said, “Scorpius, stop it and sit down.”

He blew out a breath and kissed the top of her head before returning to his seat, where he leaned back in his chair and opened the book. He seemed to be paying attention to it, but Rose caught him looking over the top of it at Albus several times, and after about twenty minutes, Albus sighed and tossed down his quill.

“I can’t concentrate,” he complained, throwing a dirty look at Scorpius, who glanced up, looking for all the world like he was completely innocent of any wrongdoing. “I’m going to go find that book for James.”

Rose wasn’t convinced that James had asked his brother to find any book for him, but she took advantage of Albus’s absence to push Scorpius’s book down and hiss, “What the hell was that about?”

To his credit, he colored slightly. “I got a little carried away,” he said sheepishly. “I just wanted to make him uncomfortable. He insulted my House.”

She stared at him. “Scorpius, I insult you and your House at least twice a day,” she pointed out.

“And you’ll notice that before you became my girlfriend - or whatever you want to call it - I didn’t laugh it off.”

“But Albus is your best friend.”

He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. “I already said I got carried away,” he said. “I’ll apologize to him.” After a moment, he reached out and ran the same finger along her neck, and she felt another shiver run through her body. “But in my defense, you didn’t stop me, did you?”

Rose looked away first and tried to direct her attention at her essay. Her face felt warm, and she could feel her pulse beginning to quicken.

Scorpius watched her for another moment before picking up his book again. “Good to know the feeling’s mutual,” he said lightly. “This is Rose Weasley, my girlfriend. You know, it really is getting easier.”

She ignored him, and he seemed to get the hint. When Albus came back, she ignored their brief conversation in which Scorpius apologized and Albus ultimately accepted the apology as best she could, and when Scorpius got up to put the book back about an hour later, she muttered a goodbye to her cousin and rushed out of the library.

When she got back to the Common Room, she brushed James and Roxanne off when they started to question her about her face, which was apparently beet red again, and made her way upstairs to her mercifully empty dormitory.

She kicked off her shoes and stripped off her jumper. She tossed the latter onto her trunk with her bag. The books in the back made a loud _thump_ when they hit the top, but she pushed all thoughts of the essay she still needed to write out of her head and flopped onto her bed. She would deal with it later. In her state of mind, she’d just do a lousy job and have to redo it anyway.

There was no way around it. She was _really_ growing to like Scorpius Malfoy. She didn’t just find him tolerable or amusing or even intriguing - she genuinely found him attractive. She liked kissing him. She liked the way he’d stroked her hair down by the lake. She’d even liked him leaning on the back of her chair running his fingers down her cheek - which was something that she never would expected herself to feel before this year.

Or even in mid-September.

She’d been curious at first. She’d found that once she stopped to think about it for a minute, she really did like looking at him, and she’d discovered that he was quite good at kissing. He was even pretty good company, once he’d stopped antagonizing her.

But she hadn’t felt this.

It had been building gradually, of course, but something about today - something about their interaction by the lake and about how she’d felt in the library - had brought it all home.

It wasn’t just that he was physically attractive, which was something she’d known since she’d first started to get interested in boys. She hadn’t been particularly attracted to him, because he’d been very irritating, but she wasn’t blind and she wasn’t an idiot. It made sense that once she’d stopped finding him quite so irritating, she’d start to find him more attractive.

At this point, however, she had to admit that it was a lot more than that. She liked being around him, even when they weren’t doing anything but talking. He made her laugh, he had an interesting way of looking at the world, and he had a sweet side that she was beginning to really appreciate.

She hadn’t guessed at any of that before, and she was beginning to feel ashamed of herself. Albus had been right. She hadn’t been fair. And she really couldn’t understand why Scorpius seemed to have such strong feelings for _her._  


	29. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius apologize to each other and he comes clean on a senstive subject.
> 
> _“I was really, really wrong about you.”_

She wasn’t sure how long she lay there trying to make sense of the entire thing, but she must have drifted off at some point, because she was awakened suddenly by the dormitory door slamming open. She stirred and opened her eyes to find Roxanne standing in the doorway, arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

“What?” she mumbled, pushing herself into a sitting position and rubbing her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Haven’t you heard Albus?”

Rose yawned widely and shook her head.

Roxanne jerked her head toward the bottom of the stairs. “He’s been calling for you to come down for about five minutes. He was threatening to go get his broom.”

Rose stretched. “What’s he want?” she asked sleepily.

“I don’t know,” Roxanne snapped. She clearly did not appreciate being dragged away from whatever she’d been doing to play messenger owl. “Come down and ask him yourself.”

She waited in the doorway until Rose dragged herself out of bed and followed her down the stairs. Albus was waiting at the bottom.

“Why didn’t you answer?” he said irritably as Roxanne headed across the room to a table she had presumably been working at with James and Julian before Albus had cajoled her into going to retrieve Rose.

“I was sleeping,” Rose said, sagging against the doorway. “And the door was closed. What do you want?”

“Scorpius wants to talk to you.” She blinked at him a few times without responding, so he motioned toward the portrait hole. “He’s outside.”

“You told him where our common room was?” she asked indignantly.

Albus blew out his breath, grabbed hold of her shoulders, and shoved her in the direction of the portrait hole. “He’s known where our common room is for awhile,” he said. “Go talk to him.”

Given the choice between an irate Albus and Scorpius, Rose would gladly choose Scorpius. She pushed open the portrait and climbed out, half-hoping that he would have given up on waiting and headed back down to his common room.

She had no such luck. As the portrait closed behind her, Scorpius scrambled up off the floor.

“Hi,” she said awkwardly.

“Hey,” he responded, rubbing the back of his head. He was clearly feeling the same way. “I- what’s that on your feet?”

Rose looked down at her socks and felt her ears start to get warm. She’d forgotten to slip shoes on before leaving her dormitory. “Nothing. They’re just socks.”

Scorpius continued to stare at her feet. “Are those snitches moving around on them?”

She ignored his question. “What did you want?”

He winced a little at her tone. “I was just-” He stopped himself, and then started again. “Did I do something wrong?”

Judging by his tone, he was more than a little hurt by the way she’d run off, and she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. “No.” Having this conversation where anyone going in or out of the common room could overhear it was making her increasingly nervous, and after a moment, he seemed to understand what was bothering her.

“Come on,” he muttered, leaning forward to grab her hand. She let him lead her around the corner and into a secret passage that he could only have learned about from Albus. She half expected him to kiss her as soon as the tapestry had fallen back over the opening, but instead, he slumped against the wall. “I’m sorry,” he said after a minute. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

It took Rose a moment to understand what he was talking about. “You didn’t,” she said. He gave her a skeptical look, and she added, “Well, you did, but not like you mean.”

“Enlighten me,” Scorpius suggested. “Because right now, I feel like a jerk.”

Rose sighed. She didn’t really want to talk about how she was feeling right now: she usually tried to avoid talking about her innermost feelings in general to anyone who wasn’t a Potter, her brother, or her mother, and this was especially difficult because it required her to admit that she was wrong, which - as a rule - she tried to avoid doing when at all possible.

But if Scorpius was feeling bad about the entire thing and thought that he’d done something wrong, she knew that she probably should.

“I just feel bad,” she said, looking at her feet. The snitches fluttering across her favorite pair of socks were glittering in the soft light that always seemed to pervade the passage, night or day, and she tried to concentrate on them rather than on what she was saying. “I was really, really wrong about you.”

His laugh echoed eerily off the stone walls. “Wait, that’s why you ran off?” She nodded without looking up. “Rose, I- Rose, will you please look at me?”

She forced herself to look up and focused her attention on the section of wall right behind his head.

Rose really, really hated admitting that she was wrong.

He stepped forward to insert himself into her view. “Rose,” he said gently, “it’s not like I was right about you.”

She examined his face, but he looked completely sincere. “I started it,” she pointed out. She’d finally remembered exactly what had happened on the train before their first year, and she was starting to feel thoroughly embarrassed.

Scorpius shrugged. “The first time, yes,” he agreed. “But it’s not like I haven’t baited you since then - and I know how to bait you. I’m a Slytherin, remember? We know how to manipulate people.”

“I didn’t need to rise to the bait,” she countered, and he sighed.

“I didn’t need to bait you, either, so let’s call it even.”

They stood there in silence for a minute. “Scorpius, why do you even like me?” she asked. “If I were you, I wouldn’t.”

“Well, there’s a reason people usually don’t go out with people very similar to them. It tends not to work out all that well.” He reached out to grab her hand. “What, do you think that I would do well with someone as manipulative and calculating as I am? I’d probably kill her within a week.” That got a giggle out of her, and he smiled, too. “And no one with your level of patience would ever put up with you.”

“Thanks,” she said dryly, and he leaned in to kiss her cheek. “But I still don’t understand why you like me.”

“Do you have to?” he asked seriously.

“I’m curious,” she whined, and even in the dim light, she could see him roll his eyes.

“I don’t think you’ll like the answer, but fine.” She stared at him, and he rubbed his forehead. “I haven’t properly figured it out yet, and Albus was too thick to notice it until recently so he hasn’t been a huge help, but as near as I can figure out, I started- er- noticing you third year.”

Rose wondered at his characterization of her cousin - when she’d talked to Albus, he’d definitely been tracing it back much earlier than “recently,” but if he hadn’t been totally up front with Scorpius, she had to assume he had a reason.

And at least now she finally felt like they were on level ground. “Noticing me?” she asked mischievously, taking a step closer to him.

“Either you get your answer or you tease me. You don’t get both.”

She made a face, but backed off.

“Right.” He looked a little disappointed. “So I spent all of third year feeling even more irritated with you than usual, and then from there it just kind of built into more...”

“More?” she prompted him.

He sighed. “More of an actual - well - thing,” he forced out. “But you were still insufferable, and I wasn’t even really aware of it until-” He stopped again and shifted uncomfortably. “Rose, does this really matter?”

She crossed her arms. “Yes. Now I’m even more curious.”

He looked down at the floor. “Do you remember when I was going out with Haley last year?”

Rose frowned. “The Hufflepuff?” He nodded without meeting her gaze. “Yeah, sure. What about it?”

“I said something about you,” he said so softly she could barely hear him. “Something... it was... in kind of an inappropriate context. I wasn’t really thinking.”

“What did you say?” she asked, and he slid down the wall onto the floor. “Scorpius?”

“Well, it was a few things, really,” he said. “At one point she asked me what color hair I liked, and I said that I usually liked redheads but was willing to make an exception for her.” He snorted. “I meant it to come out as a joke, and she basically took it as one, but she commented that she was surprised you hadn’t completely soured me to red-haired girls.”

“You like redheads, specifically?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Probably not. I think I just like you, but ‘redheads’ is what I had at the time.”

She could feel her cheeks start to get warm, and she felt vaguely pleased with herself. “What else?”

His eyes seemed to have become permanently locked to his knees. “Well, the real giveaway was when we were snogging at one point, my eyes were closed, and I said your name.”

She stared at him. “Are you _serious?”_

“Don’t start,” he warned her without looking up. “I didn’t even _realize_ I’d done it. It was honestly kind of a nightmare.”

Rose was still processing what he’d said. “So what you’re telling me is that your first relationship didn’t work out because of me?”

“That’s one way of looking at it,” he muttered. “It’s a bit of a sensitive topic, so please don’t tease me.”

He was still refusing to look at her, and something about his position tugged at her heart. She knelt down and touched his arm lightly. He finally looked up, and on impulse, she kissed him.

However insecure and vulnerable he was feeling just then, Scorpius was clearly not so perturbed that he’d forgotten how attracted he was to her. After a moment, he deepened the kiss and wrapped an arm around her. She lost her balance and fell onto stone floor with a squeak, and he pulled back.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded, and he leaned back in. When they finally parted, they were both short of breath, and her hair was tangled from where he’d sunk his fingers into it.

“That was nice,” she said lamely, and he laughed. She shifted over the short distance between them and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Can I tease you just a little if you know it’s in good fun?”

Rose felt more than heard him sigh. “Rose, I honestly don’t know that you can actually identify when it’s good fun and when it crosses a line, so no.” He looked down at her, clearly expecting some protest, but she didn’t give him any. He probably had a fair point, and she wasn’t feeling much like thinking just then.

And anyway, she was sure that if she slipped up, she could convince him to forgive her without too much trouble.

“Anyway,” he said, and she snapped her attention back. “You shouldn’t feel too bad about everything. I really did think that you were insufferable.”

She elbowed him softly. “Clearly not _that_ much, if you liked me.”

He snorted. “I’m pretty sure that mostly started because I was a fourteen year old boy and you were a pretty redhead who I had to spend too much time around because we shared a best friend.”

“Thanks ever so.”

Scorpius let out a quiet chuckle. “Like I’ve said, I’m not a saint.”

They sat there in silence for a minute. “I really am sorry,” she said again.

He kissed the top of her head. “So am I, so I guess we’re even.”


	30. A 'Friendly' Jinx

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Scorpius is the target of another jinx and Rose gets a letter from home.
> 
> _“I’m actually not sure whether it was supposed to be a warning or his idea of a friendly gesture."_

By the time Rose woke up on Monday morning, Holly and Caitlin had already gone down to breakfast, and Colleen was putting her books in her bag.

As she sat up and rubbed her eyes, Colleen looked over at her. “Finally awake?”

“Is it really that late, or are you lot just up that early?” Rose asked, throwing the covers back. Judging from the sun streaming in through the window, it certainly didn’t seem that late, but the days were getting shorter, and Rose had trouble keeping track.

Colleen smoothed back her blankets and sat cross-legged on her bed to wait for Rose got dressed. “It’s not that late,” she answered. “Holly and Caitlin were up early. They said something about ambushing your cousin.”

“Which cousin?” Rose asked curiously as she pulled on a jumper. When she emerged from it, Colleen was grinning.

“Albus.”

After a moment of processing that, Rose got the joke. “Well, good luck to them,” she said. Given what Scorpius had told her about the incident with Gretchen, this was bound to be amusing. She grabbed her bag off her trunk, and Colleen got to her feet. “Come on. I want to see this.”

There was no sign of Albus or either of the girls in the Common Room, so they hurried down to the Great Hall. When they got there, they found Albus sitting with Damien at the near end of the table. When Rose and Colleen slid in across from them, Rose could see that his face was bright red.

“Holly Zeller corner you, then?” Colleen asked, the corner of her mouth twitching.

Albus groaned and put his head in his hands. When he spoke, his voice was muffled. “Leave me alone. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Rose couldn’t help but giggle. “Did you break her heart?” she teased.

“I told her no, if that’s what you mean.”

“Oh, Al.” She shook her head as Colleen tried (without much success) to stop from breaking out into laughter herself. “Come on. What’s not to like?”

He lifted up his head and made a face as he surveyed the food on the platters in front of them. “I don’t think I’m hungry,” he said. She cleared her throat, and he glanced over at her. “I heard you. She’s nice enough, but she’s so _vapid.”_

“And he panicked,” Damien added, and Albus sighed.

“That too,” he admitted.

“You’re such a snob,” Rose told him as he picked up an apple and examined it. “So she doesn’t think very much. Neither do you, so what’s the problem?”

Albus wrinkled his nose. “Yes, Rosie, you’re hilarious. Why me?”

“You’re probably just cool by association,” said a familiar voice, and James slid in next to Rose while Roxanne sat in the empty seat next to Albus. “I’m pretty amazing. People must be under the mistaken impression that you are, too, just because you’re my brother.”

Given that Albus managed to be quite well-liked all on his own, Rose couldn’t blame Albus for rolling his eyes. “Good morning to you, too.”

James grinned back. “Morning,” he said cheerfully as Albus took a bite of the apple. “You can do better than Holly Zeller, anyway.”

Albus choked. _“You_ knew about it?” James shrugged, which Rose took to mean yes. “Why didn’t you warn me?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” asked James. He reached across the table and ruffled his brother’s hair. “I knew you’d handle it all right.”

“I don’t know if I’d use the phrase ‘all right,’” Damien said. “He stood there and stammered that he was sorry but just didn’t think so.”

James raised his eyebrows. “Well, then.” He seemed to be at a loss for words. Given his surprise, Rose could only assume that he hadn’t heard about the Gretchen situation, either. “You could have handled it _better,”_ he said eventually. “What is _wrong_ with you?”

“Dunno,” Albus muttered. “I hate girls.”

“Well, there are plenty of eligible boys in the school,” Rose said, and Roxanne gave a quiet snort. She didn’t think very much of the ‘eligible boys’ in the school, but Rose suspected that that was more because Roxanne didn’t usually like boys in the first place than any real indictment of the boys at Hogwarts in particular.

“I don’t like them, either.” Albus studied her for a moment before a smile spread across his face. Rose winced; she knew that smile, and she knew exactly what was coming. “Well, Rosie, since you’re making fun of me, how are things with Scorpius? You were outside a long time yesterday for just talking, and you couldn’t have gone far in just your socks.”

Colleen turned to her instantly, and Rose felt a surge of irritation with her cousin, even though she knew she deserved it. She looked across the table at Damien, but from the broad grin on his face, she somehow didn’t think he’d be cutting in this time.

When the silence began to stretch out, her cousin raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth. “Shut up,” she muttered, as much to cut him off as anything else.

After that, he seemed to cheer up a little, even with a little more teasing from James. When the post arrived, all three of them had gotten letters from home. Rose glanced at the clock and stuffed hers in her bag to read later, and James did the same. Albus, however, ripped open his open and read it as they walked down to Herbology.

“Anything interesting?” Rose asked, trying to peer over his shoulder.

He quickly folded the letter back up and pocketed it. “Not really. Just some advice from Dad.” He yanked open the door to the greenhouse. “How’s Quidditch practice been going?” he asked as he followed her in.

She had the vague feeling that he was trying to distract her, but she wrote it off to her imagination. She couldn’t imagine what he would be trying to hide.

It had started off cool, but as the morning wore on, the day became quite pleasant. It wasn’t warm enough to peel off her jumper, but she was very happy that they had Care of Magical Creatures before lunch; she wanted to drink in as much sun as possible.

She was sitting on the grass with Albus and Natalia as they waited for Care of Magical Creatures to start when Scorpius joined them. Her first impression was that he was wearing a bizarrely-textured green hat, but at closer glance, she realized that his hair had been turned bright green.

She and Natalia both let out loud involuntary laughs, and even Albus let out a chuckle.

Scorpius made a face as he sat down beside them. “Thanks,” he said irritably. “How bad is it?”

“Er-” Rose wasn’t quite sure how to answer the question.

Albus answered for her. “Very.”

“What _happened?”_ Rose asked, trying to hold back her giggles.

“Your cousin,” Scorpius told her. That didn’t really narrow it down very much, so after a minute, he relented and added, “Albus, your brother is a jerk.”

“I didn’t put him up to it,” Rose said immediately, and he cracked a smile.

“I know,” he said. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. When he turned back to Albus, Natalia winked at Rose. She felt her face get warm, but managed a smile back.

“So what happened?” Albus asked, and she looked back at Scorpius.

He sighed and fell backwards onto the grass. “Your brother stepped out from around a corner when I was on my way here and jinxed me,” he said after a minute. “I’m actually not sure whether it was supposed to be a warning or his idea of a friendly gesture, since he also called me ‘Scorpius.’”

“Probably friendly,” offered Albus. “Otherwise, it’d be red again, right? Wasn’t this what you wanted?”

“I wanted to keep my hair blond,” he said, “but I suppose this is much better than that red, and he said this should be totally gone by Wednesday.”

“Did you try to jinx him back?” Albus asked.

Scorpius gave him an exasperated look. “Of _course_ I did,” he said. “But it didn’t work. He just laughed and walked away. I hate those damn necklaces.”

“Well, the green hair isn’t my fault, at any rate,” Rose said as he lay down in the grass and closed his eyes. “So you can’t get back at me for it.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” He opened his eyes and grinned at her. “I’m not even planning on trying to get back at him.”

“Why?” Albus asked. “I love my brother, but he kind of deserves it.”

“I know when I’m beat,” Scorpius said simply. “Start a jinx war with James Potter? I know I’d lose, I’m not stupid.”

“Better be careful,” Natalia said, throwing Rose an amused look that said that she knew exactly what her friend was thinking. “Rose doesn’t understand the idea of picking your battles. She might be rethinking your relationship.”

“Has she actually admitted that we’re going out?” he responded, closing his eyes again. “Last I checked, she was having trouble with getting the words out.”

Albus and Natalia had turned to a discussion about O.W.L.s, but when Rose glanced over at Scorpius, he was staring at her through partially closed eyes.

She shifted uncomfortably. “What?” 

“What, I can’t stare at my girlfriend?” She rolled her eyes but didn’t contradict him, and his smile broadened.

After the lesson, he caught her hand before she could walk off with Albus and Natalia. They looked back, and she waved them on before looking at Scorpius. His green hair glinted in the sunlight, and she couldn’t help but let out a giggle.

He sighed. “How bad is it?” he asked.

“The truth?” He nodded. “Better than the red.”

“Well, that’s not hard.” He jerked his head toward the lake. “Come and sit with me?”

She hesitated, and while she was thinking about it, her stomach gave a loud grumble. “I think I should get something to eat,” she said. “You can come and sit with me, though, if you like.”

He considered that for a moment. “I’d better not,” he said. “Not today, anyway. I don’t want them thinking that I’m turning into a Gryffindor.” As they started making their way toward the castle, he grinned. “You could always come sit with me,” he suggested, and she shuddered.

“No thank you,” she said stiffly, and Scorpius laughed.

“Didn’t think so, but it was worth a try.” He reached out and grabbed her hand. “Don’t worry. I know that if I ever want to eat a meal with you, it’s going to need to be at Al’s house or the Gryffindor table.”

She nudged him. “How about your house?” she asked, not sure whether she intended it to be a joke or not. “What, you don’t think I’m good enough girlfriend material to introduce to your mum and dad?”

His eyebrows shot up, but he only said mildly, “Maybe when you decide to call yourself my girlfriend, I will.” He shifted his bag a little and said, in a significantly more uncertain tone, “Well, would you introduce me to your parents?”

Rose considered that. She hadn’t really thought about introducing Scorpius to he parents. It wasn’t that she didn’t intend to - she just hadn’t really thought that far ahead at all. Now that he’d brought it up, however, she could see a host of potential problems arising. She knew that Scorpius’s father hadn’t gotten along with her parents or her uncle very well. He seemed to have mended fences with her uncle well enough that Albus and Scorpius had never felt awkward about being friends, at least not that she’d ever picked up on. However, Rose somehow doubted that her father felt the same way.

“I thought so,” Scorpius said, and she snapped back to him. He didn’t look very happy.

“No,” she said quickly, and then remembered how the question had been phrased. “I mean, yes. I mean - yes, I would, I was just thinking about my father. He didn’t like your father very much.”

“I’d gathered. My father still isn’t particularly fond of him, either.”

She stopped walking as they passed a tree. They were nearing the castle, and despite her hunger, she wasn’t ready to end the conversation. He turned to look at her, and she frowned. “Well, what would your father say about you going out with me?”

The shadows from the branches fell across his face in a way that made it difficult to read, and she half expected Scorpius to feed her a line about his father having changed. She was therefore completely unprepared for it when he said, “He’d say that he was disowning me for falling for a Weasley.” Her shock must have shown on her face, because he laughed. “Rose, I’m joking. I don’t think that I could do anything that would make my father disown me, and even if there is, going out with you definitely doesn’t qualify.”

Rose wasn’t quite convinced, but she decided it wasn’t worth pushing it. She’d probably see soon enough, at the rate things were going.

She glanced toward the castle, and he followed her gaze. “I don’t want to go in just yet,” she admitted, and he smiled.

“Neither do I.” He took a step toward her, and when the sunlight falling through the leaves hit his hair, she could help but giggle.

He stopped, looking disgusted. “Great,” he said. “Now I’ve got another couple days of you laughing whenever I try to kiss you.”

“I can’t help it,” she said, and before he could turn away, she said, “Scorpius, it’s just funny. I don’t like you less because of it.” She hesitated for a minute. She knew what she really did have to say to make him feel better, but just thinking about getting the words out made her heart begin to beat faster. “I don’t think you’re less attractive, either.”

She wasn’t sure if that was entirely true, but it was certainly true enough - she wasn’t at all inclined to stop kissing him just because James had turned his hair green. When the tension on his face cleared, she knew she’d said the right thing.

“Really?” he asked, and she nodded, moving in to close the distance between them.   Rose was finding that the more she kissed Scorpius, the more she enjoyed it, and today was no exception.

After they finished their classes for the day, Rose turned down Albus’s invitation to go and study in the library, instead choosing to go back to her dormitory to answer her letter and take a quick nap before Quidditch practice. She’d gotten enough sleep the night before, but she was still feeling exhausted. It was just one of those days.

She intended to answer the letter first, and the sight of her bed was simply too inviting. She laid the letter on her side table and curled up on her bed for a quick nap.

When she got back to the Common Room after practice and chatted with Albus and Damien for awhile, she had the faint feeling that she’d forgotten something, but she didn’t remember what it was until she retired to her dormitory for the night and saw the letter from her parents still sitting on her side table. She considered opening it, but it was starting to get late, and she was tired. If it was something urgent, someone else would have told her. It could wait another day.

She didn’t have the time to open it until the following afternoon; James was nowhere to be seen at lunch or in the Common Room when she checked it right after, so a visit to Fred was out of the question. Instead, she spent a little time chatting with the other Gryffindor fifth years who didn’t take Muggle Studies before excusing herself to go upstairs, where she flopped onto her bed and finally grabbed the letter and opened it.

She’d barely gotten through the first few lines when she dropped her head back against the headboard and groaned. Of all the things that she didn’t want to do, talking to her parents about her relationship with Scorpius Malfoy had to be near the top of the list.

Apparently, she no longer had a choice in the matter.


	31. A Letter From Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose's father muddles things up a bit.
> 
> _"Scorpie dear... where do you get off going out with my boss’s daughter?"_

Rose had to reread the letter three times before she actually managed to process what it said. Predictably, her mother had spent a paragraph going on about how proud she was of Rose for finally being able to look past House lines, but she really wished that Rose had told her about it so she didn’t have to hear it from another source.

Rose was starting to have growing suspicions about who that ‘other source’ was, and if she was right, she thought that she really might kill him.

Her father’s reaction initially came across as a bit less awkward. The jump from her mother’s neat handwriting urging Rose to write home detailing how exactly she’d come to get involved with Scorpius to her father’s messy scrawl discussing the latest Quidditch results was a bit jarring, but she preferred the latter by far.

In fact, her father seemed like he would quite like not to mention it at all. Despite the fact that they had presumably written because of this - her mother certainly hadn’t said anything about any other subject - her father spent almost half a page talking about Quidditch, and only managed a brief comment saying that when they’d met him at the Potters’ in the years since the three had started at Hogwarts, Scorpius had seemed like a decent enough kid for a Malfoy and a Slytherin.

There was an implicit suggestion that that wasn’t saying much, but still, at least he didn’t want details. She suspected that the fewer details he had, the happier he’d probably be.

On her second read through, however, she caught a little note that father had scrawled on the bottom of the parchment: “But we’ll see what he’s really like once I ask around.”

Rose had no idea what ‘ask around’ meant, but she was fairly sure that it would be embarrassing.

Once she was satisfied that there was nothing else in the letter that she’d managed to miss, she hopped out of bed and made her way down the stairs. The Common Room wasn’t especially crowded yet, but she did see James sitting with Lily by the windows, and she hurried across the room.

“I am going to kill your brother,” she told them. At the sound of her voice, he looked up from Lily’s Defense Against the Dark Arts essay.

“What?” he asked in confusion.

She lowered her voice, and Lily leaned across the table to listen in. “I’m going to kill Albus,” she repeated. Her cousins both gave her blank looks, and she sighed and collapsed into one of the chairs. “I’m pretty sure he told my parents about Scorpius.”

James let out a loud guffaw, and she glared at him. He’d warned her that if she didn’t tell her parents about Scorpius soon, they’d find out soon enough, anyway.

She really hated it when he was right.

Lily didn’t react quite as strongly, but she couldn’t hold in a laugh.

“This isn’t funny,” Rose insisted. “It’s not.”

“Yes it is,” they said at the same time.

She looked around the room again, but she didn’t see the bright red hair anywhere. “I’m going to kill him,” she repeated.

“How do you know it was him?” James asked reasonably.

“Oh, come on, James. Who else would have? Besides, he was awkward about his letter yesterday - I bet he wrote home about it all without thinking and your parents went and told my parents and-”

“Is it really such a bad thing?” James wondered out loud. She must have looked furious, because he held up his hands. “Rosie, it’s an honest question. You’d have to tell them eventually.”   
“It’s not funny,” she said again, choosing to ignore the simple truth he was spelling out. Her cousins snorted again. 

“I like him,” Lily volunteered. “He’s always been perfectly nice to me.”

Rose was clearly not going to get any sympathy from them, but after they’d both gotten over their amusement, they were interested in what her parents had actually said, so she showed them the letter. Neither seemed to think that she had much to worry about - her parents clearly weren’t about to disown her - though when she’d pointed out her father’s parting note about “asking around,” they did admit that it didn’t sound promising.

By the time Albus climbed in through the portrait hole, she was feeling much calmer, though she was still decidedly grumpy when she greeted him.

“What’d I do?” he asked. She shoved the letter across the table at him, and he skimmed it before looking back up. “Oh. Wait, you think _I_ told?”

She sighed. The irritation had largely gone out of her. “You were really shady about the letter yesterday. I figured you’d mentioned it in a letter to them.”

Albus shook his head. “No. I was _going_ to, but then the letter today talked about it like they already knew. That’s why I didn’t want you to read it.”

“If not you, how’d they find out?”

James jerked his head toward the portrait hole, which two sixth year girls had jumped climbed through. “Bet she knows.” He raised his voice. “Hey, Roxanne!”

Roxanne and Marion both joined them at the table. Judging from the way Marion rested her hand on James’s and the way he smirked at her, Rose figured they’d patched things up - for now, anyway.

When Roxanne saw the letter, she couldn’t hold back her grin.

Rose knew that look very, very well. “It _was_ you who told!”

Her cousin shrugged, looking indecently pleased with herself. “Well, it’s your own fault for not beating me to it. I was writing to my father, and I just thought I’d mention it. In passing, you know. For about half a page.”

Rose groaned. If her uncle George knew, _everyone_ knew - her parents and the Potters might have kept it quiet until they’d actually talked to their children. Once it got outside them, though, Rose knew that rumors among the Weasleys spread like fire. She had a feeling she was about to get several letters asking her about it, and she had no interest in answering any of them.

“Roxanne?”

“Yeah?”

“I hate you sometimes.”

Scorpius, for his part, found the entire thing very funny. He didn’t shut up until she’d grumpily threatened not to find time to see him around her upcoming Quidditch practices, and even then, she could tell that he was still exceedingly amused about the entire thing.

“Wonder what he meant about ‘asking around,’ though,” Scorpius wondered out loud a few days later as he was walking her down the pitch. “Who is there to ask?”

Rose shrugged. “Dunno.”

After another couple minutes of thinking about it, however, Scorpius stopped dead and buried his head in his hands. “Oh, _hell.”_

She looked back at him. “What?”

He took a deep breath and looked back up; the expression on his face rather reminded Rose of someone who was about to be sick. “I think I know who he might ask. If I’m right, I might be getting a damn howler.”

He wouldn’t say anything else on the subject, and when they parted ways in front of the Gryffindor locker room, he was clearly a little preoccupied when he kissed her goodbye.

“What’s up?” James asked as Scorpius walked away. He’d gotten there at the same time as Rose, and he glanced back at Scorpius’s retreating form. “Is there something wrong with him?”

Rose spared one last look at Scorpius. “I’m not sure,” she said after a moment. “He said he knew who my dad might be asking about him, though.”

James looked a little curious, but when she said that she didn’t know anything about who it might be, he shrugged and followed her into the locker room.

Try as she might, she couldn’t convince Scorpius to explain it further that evening, and for the rest of the week, she had precious few chances to try. It seemed like her time was completely taken up by Quidditch practice and homework; the first match of the season was fast approaching, and James was taking no chances of a surprise upset from Hufflepuff.

It wasn’t until they were sitting by the lake Friday afternoon after classes had finished for the day that she had the chance to bring it up again, and this time, he was willing to explain it.

“I’ve told you about my cousin Johanna, right? Johanna Greengrass?” Rose nodded. “I was afraid your father would pull her into his office to interrogate her about me.”

Rose winced. “Did he?”

“Oh, yes.” Scorpius shifted so he could pull something out of his pocket. “Here,” he said, passing her the letter. “Read it. You’ll get a laugh out of it, I think - I’m just thankful it wasn’t a howler.”

She took it, and he put his hands behind his head and leaned back against the tree.

“You know,” she commented as she unfolded the letter, “if we break up, the lake is going to be completely ruined for me.”

He didn’t respond, and she glanced over at him. His eyes were closed, and after a moment, he said, “Wow. So you’ve not only admitted we’re going out, you’ve opened yourself up to the possibility that we’re never going to break up. That’s real progress.” She smacked his leg lightly, and he laughed. “Just read it, Red.”

She opened the piece of parchment.

_Scorpie_ dear, __

_A funny thing happened the other day. There I was, minding my own business, doing important Auror things, and my boss calls me into his office. Apparently, he’d heard that my_ dear _baby cousin was getting involved with his daughter, and he was a bit concerned, you being a Slytherin and a Malfoy and all that._

_So what I want to know is, where do you get off going out with my boss’s daughter? And, more importantly, why are you going out with a_ Gryffindor? _Scorpie, I thought you had_ standards. __

_At any rate, don’t worry. I told him that you were a filthy amoral little boy who was going to ruin his daughter’s reputation._

_You know, the truth._

_Love and luck,  
Jo_

_P.S. If you do anything that makes Weasley call me into his office again to discuss my family, I’m going to feed you to a manticore. I can, you know. I have friends in high places._

Rose looked up from the letter. “Is this - er - a joke?”

Scorpius snorted. “No. I know what you mean, but no. That’s just my cousin Johanna.”

“She - er -” Rose tried to think of an appropriate description of what she’d just read, but came up blank. “Did she _really_ tell my dad that?” she asked instead.

Scorpius shrugged and dropped his right arm so he could slip it around her and pull her closer to him. She curled up and rested her head on his chest, and his hold tightened a little. “Probably not,” he said after a minute. “It’s hard to tell with her sometimes, but I don’t think so.”

“She sounds a little like Roxanne.” 

Scorpius laughed. “If you say so. I still don’t really know Roxanne, I don’t think.” He moved his hand up from her midsection and began to stroke her hair. She let out a contented noise, and he kissed the top of her head. “I don’t think Roxanne likes me very much.”

Rose was inclined to argue with him, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. He was right. Roxanne really _didn’t_ like him very much, and unlike James, she wasn’t making any effort to reform her opinion.

When she didn’t say anything, he sighed. “Yeah. I didn’t think so.”

“That’s just who she is,” Rose said. “I’m sure she’ll come around eventually.”

“If you say so,” he said doubtfully. “Well, I guess I can’t have everything. I think James _is_ actually starting to like me. He’s been consistently calling me by my first name and saying ‘hi’ whenever we pass by each other.”

Rose smiled and nuzzled into Scorpius’s chest. “That feels good,” she murmured, referencing the fingers he was running through her hair, and he kissed her forehead again. “And yeah, he is.”

“Why didn’t he bother to try before?” Scorpius asked. His tone said that he was still having a lot of trouble with the entire thing. “I’ve only been one of his brother’s best friends for the past four years. No offense, but you shouldn’t be more important to him than _Albus_ is.”

“I’m not,” she said. “That’s... that’s not really how it works.”

“Enlighten me.”

She sighed. “It’s easier to avoid someone’s friend than someone’s boyfriend when you’re close with them,” she said. “It just... is.” He made a noncommittal sound, and she glanced up at him. “You disagree?”

“I’m not sure.” He glanced up at the sky. “Probably not. It just feels...” He shrugged. “Unfair.” He rolled his eyes at the look she gave him. “Oh, shut up. I’m a Slytherin, not heartless. And I look out for my friends.”

She settled back against him. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I’m getting that.” She heard him snort, and after a moment, she said, “I’m sorry.”

“Hmm?” She repeated herself, and he asked, “For what?”

“For being so...” Her voice trailed off. “You know.”

“Haven’t we already been over this?” She shrugged, and he said, “Look, Rose, it’s fine. And honestly, it’s probably just as well that you and I didn’t get on well before this year.” She glanced up at him in confusion. “If you’d spent four years thinking, ‘Oh, Scorpius Malfoy, he’s all right, I guess,’ would you be going out with me now?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted.

He laughed. “Well, I’m pretty sure that resenting you for being both incredibly obnoxious and the prettiest girl in our year helped me along,” he told her.

“You think I’m the prettiest girl in our year?” she asked with interest. He blew out his breath, and she said, “Scorpius, I’m not digging for compliments.”

He didn’t say anything for a minute. Then, as a breeze blew across the lake and whistled through the leaves above their heads, he said, “I think you’re the prettiest girl in this school.”

She jerked her head around, expecting him to have a smile on his face, but he appeared to be completely serious.

_“Really?”_

He made a face. “Yes, Rose, really. It’s made my life a lot more difficult for the past year or two.”

She took awhile to absorb that. In some ways, she wished that she could say that knowing that shed some light on things that she’d found odd, but unlike Albus, she simply hadn’t been paying close enough attention to Scorpius to ever notice it.

Given that she was also apparently a bit oblivious sometimes when it came to romance, she supposed that she probably could have been paying attention and still not noticed much.

“I thought that you just didn’t like me,” she said eventually.

“I didn’t. I thought that you were obnoxious and full of yourself. Wanting to kiss you just made it worse.”

“Now that you can kiss me, is it still worse?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “Now when you’re obnoxious and full of yourself, I can shut you up.” She elbowed him, and he laughed. “What?”

They sat there in comfortable silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.

“Hey, Rose.”

“Mm?” She looked up at him. His face was flushed, but she decided not to point out his current resemblance to Christmas - the jinx was taking a little longer to fade than James had thought it would.

“I -” His voice caught in his throat. “I - I love spending time with you like this.”

She smiled and leaned up to kiss him. As they were walking back to the castle shortly thereafter, however, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that that hadn’t been quite what he meant to say, though she had no idea what else it could have been.


	32. Malfoy Family Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Scorpius confides in Rose about family secrets dating from the war.
> 
> _"He didn’t just_ see _them used. He knew them from both sides of the spells."_

By the time the weekend came, Rose had a considerable amount of work that had piled up. The match was in just a week, and James was scheduling what Rose felt were an absurd number of practices. She and Scorpius were sitting in the library early on Saturday afternoon when he cleared his throat loudly.

“I think we should talk,” he said.

“About what?” Rose was only half-listening to him; she was halfway through the book on quintapeds, and fascination didn’t even begin to describe how she felt about them - though the fact that she’d left her Herbology homework virtually untouched probably did.

“My family.”

“Haven’t we done that?” she asked, her attention still fixed on the book.

Scorpius reached across the table, extracted her bookmark from where it was trapped under her arm, and dropped it onto the page she’d just finished. He then made to close the book, though he did let her actually do so.

She looked up at him, feeling a little exasperated. “Scorpius, what’s so urgent?”

The look on his face made any further protests die in her throat. He looked only a little more cheerful than a witch being marched off to the gallows. “I really want to talk to you about my family.” She opened her mouth. “No, my _dad’s_ family. Look, Rose, I really, really like you, and I want to make sure _now_ that this won’t be a problem, because if it is and we don’t find out until much later, it’ll hurt a lot more.”

Rose sighed and slumped back. She was not looking forward to this conversation, though she did know that he was right - it did have to happen. She could generally put his family out of her mind when she spent time with him, because she _knew_ Scorpius didn’t have any prejudices and she was pretty sure his mother didn’t, either - one of her aunts was quite friendly with Astoria Malfoy.

But his grandparents - well, she’d bet galleons that his grandfather had tortured and probably even killed people exactly like her and her mother for the very serious crime of _existing_ in the same world as him. He’d also _personally_ given her aunt a dark object that should have killed her (and very nearly did), tortured several of her parents’ closest friends, and been indirectly responsible for the death of her uncle’s godfather. She wasn’t so sure about Scorpius’s grandmother, but she hadn’t left his grandfather, even after Voldemort’s downfall, so clearly she couldn’t be that bothered by it all.

And when she thought about that, it was sometimes a little hard to keep liking Scorpius quite as much as she did, even if he himself hadn’t done - and she was quite sure would never do - anything of the sort.

He was studying her. “You know I’m right.”

Rose sighed heavily and began to stuff her books into her bag. “You are, unfortunately. I don’t want to have this conversation here, though.”

“Neither do I. We could go for a walk outside?”

That seemed as good a solution as any to Rose, who wanted as few witnesses as possible if she started yelling at him or broke down crying - either seemed like distinct possibilities. After a quick stop at Gryffindor Tower to drop off her bag, she met Scorpius in the entry hall and they stepped out into the cool late afternoon air. This time, they did not hold hands; it didn’t seem fitting, given the topic of conversation and the potential fallout.

They settled on one of the hills that they took down to their Care of Magical Creatures classes; it seemed sufficiently far from the castle for their purposes, and it wasn’t a particularly romantic spot if any other students wanted alone time for significant more enjoyable reasons.

Scorpius drew his knees up to his chest and stared out across the grounds. The very top of Hagrid’s hut was just visible through the fine mist that hung in the air. “I’m not going to insult you by asking you to justify having a problem with them. If you want to talk about it, I’m happy to listen, but Albus has been my best friend for years and also, I’m not an idiot. I get it, and I don’t blame you.”

Rose crouched down in front of him. She’d never seen him look so serious, not even back when he was antagonizing her at every turn. It pulled at her heart a little, and she put her hands on his cheeks and leaned in for a kiss.

It wasn’t a particularly chaste kiss, but they didn’t get carried away the way they usually did, either. He raised his eyebrows at her.

“In case - you know.”

He sighed. The little bit of light that had arisen in his face after the kiss vanished. “Yeah. I know.”

She settled down next to him, close enough that they were almost touching - but not quite. Not yet.

“You _don’t_ get it,” she said after a moment. “You understand why it bothers me, and I can tell that you’re disgusted by what they did, but it’s not the same thing. Scorpius, if he’d had half a chance twenty years ago, your grandfather would have literally killed me or tortured me until I was locked up in St. Mungo’s for the rest of my life. It’s not the same thing for you - I don’t think the Death Eaters would have liked you very much, but you would have had a _choice._ Hell, it’s your choices that are causing all the conflict with some of your housemates right now. Me and Hugo? My mum? My grandparents? We don’t _get_ to have a noble reason. It’s just that we, you know, breathe the same air as them. Oh, and we were born.”

She stopped to catch her breath. She’d said all of that very quickly. For a moment, it looked like Scorpius wanted to argue, but after a moment, he sighed.

“You’re right,” he said instead. “And it’s not fair, and I hate it - but it’s not the same.”

The fact that he wasn’t challenging her or trying to pretend that he _did_ get it went a long way toward making her care what he had to say. “Okay. So what did you want to say?”

“I - I don’t know. I think that there are some things about my family that maybe you should know. I was thinking about it, and I guess we _do_ have a lot of family secrets. They’re just… well, all really depressing.” He looked at her and held her gaze. “Rose, if I’m going to tell you this, I really need you to promise that you won’t tell _anyone._ Not your brother, not James, not anyone. Noah knows most of it, and Albus knows a lot of it, but even them - there’s some stuff they don’t know.” She opened her mouth and he added, “It’s not recent.”

She noticed that he’d skirted nicely around the question of whether what he was about to tell her was _legal,_ and she didn’t think it was an oversight, but she nodded anyway. “Okay. I promise. No one.”

He sighed and looked away from her again. “It’s not like I’ve gotten a play-by-play from anyone, so this might come out a little garbled… and there are plenty of things that I don’t know about at all.”

“That’s okay.” Rose wasn’t going to go so far as to comfort him, not over this, but she was curious enough - and if she was being honest with herself, she also liked him enough - that she was willing to do with a garbled and incomplete picture.

“Our last lesson in Defense Against the Dark Arts before Christmas last year was about the Unforgivable Curses. Do you remember that?”

Rose did, vaguely.

“Well, I went home, and I was talking about them. Part of it was just that I was curious and not really thinking, but if I’m being honest, a lot of it was that I knew my dad had seen them during the war.” He winced at the memory. “So I pushed it. He told me he didn’t want to talk about it, and - well, I was a bit of a brat, and I kept bringing it up. Dad’s always had a bit of a temper, but he usually just gets really quiet, goes into his study, and locks the door. This time, though - well, he started yelling at me. I don’t remember everything he said, but the basic gist was that I couldn’t understand, he hoped I’d never have to, and that I was too young to be thinking about this stuff anyway. Then he called me spoiled and slammed the door to his study.”

He shook his head. “Mum talked to me later that night, once we’d both cooled down a little, and… well, after that I felt like a complete jerk.”

“What did she say?”

Scorpius swallowed hard. “She said that those were a sore topic for my dad because during the war, he was surrounded by all three. A lot.”

Rose couldn’t keep a sarcastic comment back. “Well, yeah, because his side was _using_ them.”

“That’s what I thought she meant, too, but it wasn’t. He didn’t just _see_ them used - she said he knew the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse from both sides of the spells.”

Rose felt her eyebrows knit together. “Wait, _what?_ Who used them _on_ him?”

“His father. His aunt. Voldemort himself, once. I think his dad used the Imperius Curse, his aunt used both, and Voldemort used the Cruciatus Curse.” He gave a humorless laugh. “Yeah, once Mum told me that, I started to get why my grandmother lied for your uncle.”

“His own _father?”_

“I guess my dad was dragging his feet about using the Cruciatus Curse on someone he’d gone to school with or something, and his father didn’t want to argue with him in front of his aunt, so he just…” Scorpius waved an imaginary wand. “Yeah. Apparently, that happened a couple times.”

“Same aunt?” He nodded. “She sounds _terrible.”_

Scorpius managed a strangled laugh. “Yeah. Thank your grandmother for killing her for me long before I was born - I’m glad I never had the pleasure of meeting her.”

“Hold on,” Rose said, racking her brain. “Wait. Was your dad’s aunt _Bellatrix Lestrange?”_

“Yep. My grandmother’s sister. My dad said she was really unhinged, even for somebody who’d been in Azkaban. I think even my grandmother wasn’t too broken up when she died - but then, I guess when your sister tortures your son, you tend to side with your son.”

Rose shook her head. “How is this supposed to make me feel okay about your family? It’s very sad and all, but you’ll forgive me if I feel a little worse for the people he was seeing the curses used _on_ and _using_ the curses on — which is so gross, by the way.”

“I know.”

“It sucks that he had them used on him, but my sympathy is kind of with the real victims, not the bystanders or supporters who kind of didn’t like it too much. You side with those people, you’re going to get burned sometimes, too. And besides, your father used Unforgivables when he wasn’t under the Imperius Curse, too. I know _that.”_

Scorpius sighed. “I’m not trying to make you feel bad for him. Hell, I don’t think _he’d_ want you to feel bad for him - that’s why he hasn’t really talked to anyone but my mother about it. She said he doesn’t think he’s really entitled to get sympathy about it, since he came out of the war relatively unscathed, all things considered… and, well, since he’d been part of that.”

“Your mother told you an awful lot, for something that was supposed to be super secret.” Rose tried to keep the skepticism out of her voice, but she didn’t quite succeed.

“Yeah, well.” He picked at a few blades of grass. “She’d had a few drinks by that point, and I don’t think she’s ever really talked about it, either. Not his stuff _or_ hers. Once she started, I think it just… spilled out.”

“What do you mean?”

He was biting his lip now. “You can’t ever tell _anyone_ this.”

“I won’t. I promise.” He hesitated, so she put a hand on his knee. He jumped a little at the contact, which he clearly hadn’t been expecting. “Scorpius. _I promise._ Not anyone.”

Scorpius swallowed hard. “Not even Albus or Noah.” She nodded. He thought about it for a minute. “Okay,” he said, clearly making his decision. “Okay. So after what my mum said about my dad, I said something like the Imperius Curse sounding - well, almost scarier, you know?”

Rose did know. She didn’t know how bad the Cruciatus Curse hurt, but being a slave in her own body sounded positively terrifying.

“So I said that, and my mum got this look on her face. And then she said that she didn’t know what the Cruciatus Curse felt like, but that the having the Imperius Curse cast on her was the worst experience she’d ever had - and she definitely got punished in that year the school was taken over, so it’s not like she doesn’t have a benchmark for pain. She’s got these… scars on her shoulders and arms. I don’t know what from, but I know they’re from then. She’s opened up a little more lately about that stuff - I guess she figures she was as old as I am now when it happened, so…”

“Who used it on her? The Imperius Curse, I mean?”

“She wouldn’t say, but… oh, I really didn’t mean to tell you this. You don’t have an issue with the Greengrasses in the first place.” He looked up at the sky. “I - okay, _but you really can’t tell anyone this.”_

“I won’t.”

He looked up at the sky and then said, so softly she had to strain to hear him, “I think maybe it was my aunt. That’s why I haven’t even talked to Noah about it - I can’t really accuse his mother of that. It’s just my gut, really. My mum was a Ravenclaw, you know, and she _wanted_ to fight with your uncle and parents. Their older brother, my uncle, he _did_ \- he got the word and came back for it.”

Now _that_ was something about the Greengrasses that Rose hadn’t known. Her respect for them grew a little more.

“Yeah… Daphne was a bit of a black sheep for awhile, buying into the pureblood stuff like she did. But I’ve never understood why my mother had to _go back_ \- because it’s clear that she did, but it was only later, only with her brother. She’s been really specific about that. But she was already _at_ Hogwarts - why did she evacuate in the first place, if she wanted to fight so bad? 

“And then I got to thinking. I mean, my mum swore me to secrecy in general, but she specifically told me not to tell Noah about it. And she wouldn’t say anything about the person who did it. And then it occurred to me that my aunt was there, too. She was a seventh year. And I can see her using that to just get Mum out of the castle. She’d think she was doing the right thing, even. It’s just a theory, but…”

Rose wasn’t sure what to say. On one hand, she did appreciate Scorpius opening up to her about something that was clearly very difficult for him… but on the other, none of this was really giving her a reason to be okay with his father’s family - though she couldn’t help but think that maybe he wasn’t so different from his mother in needing to get it out to _someone,_ so she tried to be patient.

“Anyway.” Scorpius shook himself. “They have nightmares about it, you know.”

“So do my parents. Don’t most people?”

“Yeah, I guess. I just - when I was really little, it was my dad especially, he’d wake me up shouting in the middle of the night. A lot. I don’t know if it got better or if they just used some charm to muffle the sounds coming from their room. You know how most kids climb into bed with their parents when they’re little, sometimes, if they have a bad dream?”

Rose nodded.

“I wasn’t allowed to. Ever. My parents would come sit in my room until I fell asleep again, but I couldn’t sleep in there. I didn’t think much of it - you know, being four and all - but now, I’m wondering… like, maybe they were afraid it would scar _me,_ or even that it wasn’t really _safe.”_

He sighed, and this time, Rose did reach out to clasp his hand. She was starting to see where he might be going with this, and while she was far from convinced, she _did_ appreciate the obvious effort it was taking him to talk about this. She wondered if he’d ever really talked about it to anyone. Whatever he said about Noah and Albus, she suspected that he hadn’t.

“My dad really hated the war, Rose. Like - really. I don’t remember going to my grandparents’ manor until I was about eight, and then my mother took me. I don’t think I saw my father step foot into it until I was 11 - just before I went to Hogwarts. I don’t know what he’ll do with it when my grandparents - well, you know. I can’t imagine he’ll ever want to live there.”

“You keep saying your dad hated it,” Rose said. “And I believe you. But if he hated it that much, why didn’t he just _leave?_ He was on their side, I can’t imagine he was under lock and key.”

Scorpius shook his head. “I don’t know. I wish I did. _I_ would’ve. I would’ve gone to - to Albus’s, or just… somewhere. Not stayed there. He must have known _somebody_ who was in the Order who he could’ve gotten to, and I bet they’d have helped him. I just don’t get it. It’s not something I can really ask, though - not right now, anyway.”

Rose shook her head. “Scorpius - I like you. I do. But… forget your grandparents. What about your dad? How can you _use_ those curses on people, especially when they’ve been used on _you_ so you know how terrible they are?”

He frowned. “I’m - I’m not sure he did. After they were used on him, I mean. He said something, when he was ranting at me - something about how it’s impossible to know what they are until you’ve felt them, and then nobody with half a soul uses them on someone else.”

Rose wondered, suddenly, whether Scorpius’s father had had those curses used on him more than Scorpius’s mother had implied. She knew her uncle and mother had both been on the receiving end of Unforgivables several times during the war, but when Rose and James and Albus had asked about them one night, their parents had definitely hedged a little in the face of their childrens’ insistence that good guys would never, ever use them.

“I don’t know,” Scorpius said. “I don’t know a lot of things. But I know my dad, and I know that my dad as _I_ know him would never, ever do those things. He’s worked to change a lot of the laws, you know.”

Rose actually _had_ known that; her father had complained about Draco Malfoy infringing on her mother’s territory before. Her mother had informed him in a tone that invited no dissent that it wasn’t a competition.

“I just… I _know_ they’d like you, both of them, and they’d never in a million years do anything to hurt you. Even if there was another dark wizard - they’d both fight. I mean, he married my mum, didn’t he?” Scorpius’s voice was a little pleading. “You don’t do that if you still believe that stuff. And ask Albus. He likes them.”

“He did some terrible things.”

“I know,” Scorpius said. “And I understand why you feel the way you do. But - I mean, _I_ didn’t. And I wouldn’t, ever. And - I mean, if we work out, I’ll want you to meet my mother at some point, but I won’t push you to meet my father if you don’t want to, and I promise that I will never ask you to spend any time with his parents.” He stared out across the grounds. “And - yeah, _I_ never did any of that. Ever.”

“And I didn’t do anything to make them hate _me._ Welcome to a world where your bloodline is sometimes a problem even if you’ve done absolutely nothing to anyone.”

He thought about that for a minute. “Yeah, it sucks. I didn’t think I could hate those - those people more than I do, but… this feels gross, and it’s not even life-threatening. I’m sorry. You don’t deserve it.”

The fact that he was continuing to not press or challenge her was, at this point, making Rose feel a lot better about him. She wasn’t totally sure where she stood - his revelations, while interesting and sad, had left a little to be desired in terms of making her okay with his family - but at least he seemed to genuinely respect where she was coming from.

“We can try it,” she told him. “I don’t know. But - I’ll try, as long as you don’t push me to spend quality time with murderers.”

He managed a genuine smile for the first time since he’d started talking. It was small, but it was there. “Thanks. Because I really do like you a lot.”

“So I’d gathered,” Rose said dryly. “Have you even told them about us?”

“Of course,” Scorpius said. “They said… well, a lot of stuff, and I don’t want to go into it right now - I’m feeling kind of drained, honestly - but none of it was bad.”

Rose wanted to push him, but confiding in her really did seem to have left him absolutely exhausted, so she let it go.

For now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know that people have very, very different headcanons about Draco Malfoy, what happened to the Malfoys during the war, and how they changed (or didn't change) after the war. I intentionally left a lot open and unclear here, because Scorpius clearly isn't privy to all the information his father or mother have, but I'm still a little nervous about how it came off, because I feel like my interpretation of Draco's actions in HBP and DH are a little more sympathetic than they are for many people. (I look at him and see someone who showed some pretty significant signs of serious trauma - I've always really wondered what happened to him off-screen, and he's struck me as someone who was running his mouth throughout his childhood and adolescence without actually realizing what the things he was saying meant.)
> 
> So I'd really love to know how this scene came off to you. Was I too sympathetic? Does Scorpius know too much? Were there things you would have liked to see addressed that weren't?


	33. House Loyalties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Albus argue with Scorpius about Quidditch, and Rose begins to fall back on bad habits.
> 
> _“Wait, you almost said_ what _to Rose Weasley?”_

Rose had never really gotten on well with most Slytherins. However, as the weekend wore on, it seemed to her that there were a lot more unfriendly stares and mutters that followed her whenever she was out of the Gryffindor Common Room, and by the time she reaching History of Magic on Monday afternoon, she was fairly certain that she wasn’t just being paranoid. Her confidence in this assessment was strengthened by the cool way one of the Slytherin girls she’d never had a conflict with before thanked her when Rose held the door to the classroom open for her, and she slid into the seat next to Albus feeling thoroughly irritated. Even Noah was sitting on the other side of the room, though he did manage a friendly nod in her direction.

Hey,” she hissed to Scorpius, who was sitting on Al’s other side.

He glanced over at her, his eyebrows raised inquisitively.

“Is there any reason everyone in your house is looking at me like I killed their kitten?”

Upon hearing this, Albus abandoned his doodles and turned his head toward Scorpius to hear his answer.

Scorpius rubbed his forehead, looking slightly uncomfortable, but was given a reprieve by Binns floating into the room through the chalkboard. “After class,” he said softly.

She had the distinct feeling that he was buying time; it wasn’t as though he ever paid attention in History of Magic, or like Binns would notice either way.

Sure enough, he and Albus spent most of the lesson playing hangman. As Rose struggled to follow the drone Professor Binns never seemed to deviate from, she resolved that neither of them was going to see her notes. If they failed their O.W.L.s, it was their own damned fault.

When class had ended and everyone else had filed out, both she and Albus turned expectantly to Scorpius.

“Well?” Rose asked. “Is it just because of you?” The idea that what was starting to feel like every Slytherin in the school but Scorpius was so resentful of their relationship all of a sudden felt outlandish, but she couldn’t think of any other explanation.

He shook his head. “No, most people don’t care - or they’ve said ‘good one’ or something like that. It’s because of the Quidditch match.”

Rose could see her confusion reflected in her cousin’s face as they started toward the door. “Why should that matter?” Albus asked. “We’re not even playing Slytherin.”

“Well, no, you’re not,” Scorpius said slowly, “but there are still some hard feelings about the Cup last year, and most of them are really hoping to see Gryffindor flattened by Hufflepuff.”

“Thanks for the support,” Rose snapped. She was already feeling more than a little irritated with him for avoiding the subject long enough to come up with a good cover story if he wanted to.

He rolled his eyes and, as usual, refused to rise to the bait. "Rose, I didn't say I was hoping that. I said that most people in my house are. Though,” he added, thinking about it, “I totally would be too if I wasn’t sneaking off to kiss you all over the place.”

“But why?” Albus asked.

Scorpius bit his lip as they started slowly down the corridor. “Albus, you know Kitty Roshan, right?”

“Of course,” Albus said. “I make a point of knowing the people my cousins date.”

“Right.” Scorpius looked vaguely amused. Rose suspected that it was because of the similarity of Al’s response to her own the night before when the two of them had been enjoying cups of hot cocoa in the kitchen, though the context had been a bit different. “Well, Kitty was…” He stopped, frowning, and then started again. “It’s fair to say that Gryffindors worship your brother, right?”

Rose and Albus looked at each other, and after a moment, Albus reluctantly turned back to Scorpius. “I don’t know if I’d say _worship,_ exactly,” he said, “but yes.” It was a bit of an oversimplification - there were plenty of Gryffindors who _didn’t_ like James - but winning the Quidditch Cup did tend to make you popular around your house.

“Well, Kitty was kind of that for Slytherins,” Scorpius said. “And it rankled that she didn’t win the Cup as her last hoorah because _you-”_ He glanced over at Rose. “- scored _right_ before Noah caught the snitch.” His voice was starting to get heated; he clearly was not quite over this. “We would have won the Cup if we’d tied the match, and he didn’t even _know_ you’d scored until he looked at the scoreboard. It was _seconds_ before he caught the snitch. If that. We _should_ have had the Cup.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re not bitter at all, are you?” asked Albus. Whatever his usual approach to interhouse friendships, he had no room for that tolerance when the Quidditch Cup was at stake.

“Yes, I’m a little bitter,” Scorpius admitted after a moment. “I’m tired of Gryffindor winning the Cup, and I wish Kitty had won it in her last year.”

“Yeah, well, we won fairly,” Albus snapped. Rose was quite enjoying being able to sit back and let Albus fight the battle for her; it was nice not to be the bad guy for once.

“You also won narrowly,” Scorpius pointed out. “There are still a lot of hard feelings about that. Without Kitty, we know we can’t win the Cup, but most of them are hoping that you don’t, either.”

Rose and Albus were quiet for a moment, and then she said flatly, “That’s stupid.”

“It is,” Albus agreed immediately. “We were outplaying you. We were 150 points ahead when Noah and Lily saw the snitch. We have a great team, not just a couple great players—”

“I _know,”_ Scorpius cut in.

“You’d have done the same thing,” Albus added, talking over him. “Anyone would have done what Rose did, and she _always_ tries to score when everyone’s distracted by the snitch, your keeper should have been ready—”

“I _know,”_ Scorpius repeated. “I know. Kitty said the same thing about fifty times before the end of the year. It just didn’t stick.”

“Why not?”

Scorpius shifted his bag from one shoulder to the other and glanced around the corridor. There was no one in sight. “Some people think that Kitty couldn’t be objective.”

Rose and Albus exchanged an incredulous look. “Why wouldn’t she be able to be objective?” Rose asked.

“Because so many people on your team are related to Dominique, and…” He trailed off.

Rose stared at him. “That’s stupid,” she said again. “They broke up last autumn, and what, was Kitty supposed to be trying to get her ex back by being nice to her cousins?”

“Apparently.”

A silence followed while Rose and Albus digested what he’d said. “That is so typical,” Rose muttered after a minute.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. “What’s so typical?”

She could tell she was treading into dangerous waters, but she found herself too irritated to care. Albus frowned, but didn’t say anything, even though he had to know where this was heading. She took that as encouragement. “For Slytherins to react like _that.”_

“Thanks,” Scorpius said cooly. “If _only_ we were more like Gryffindors. Being arrogant and judgmental and reckless is so much more attractive in a person. We’re all very jealous, _really.”_

Rose knew that if this conversation kept on in the direction it was going, it would just degrade into exactly the sort of encounters that had been typical of their relationship prior to this year, which she didn’t really want. However, she couldn’t help replying, “Apparently. Look who _you’ve_ falling for.”

His face flushed a little, but when he spoke, his voice was perfectly controlled. “Look who’s talking.” His eyes were still narrowed, and he had a rather nasty kind of smile on his face. “You talk up a storm about how Gryffindor is best house, and yet…” he trailed off, and she felt her temper really starting to rise.

Before she could respond, Albus cut in. “You both need to shut up.” They looked at him, and he added, “Especially you, Scorpius.”

Scorpius looked outraged. “You’re taking _her side?”_ In his irritation, he seemed to have completely forgotten that Albus had actually had a bigger hand in starting the argument than Rose had.

“Yes, I am,” Albus said calmly. “She needs to stop before she says something she regrets, and she’ll realize that once she calms down and _you_ stop baiting her, but given how stupid that grudge is, it’s fair that she be a little annoyed.”

Rose had no interest in getting involved with this, so rather than engage, she took a few deep breaths, hoping to ease her temper a little.

“What a shock,” Scorpius muttered. “Of course you’d side with her.”

Albus was having none of it. “If _your_ house won a Quidditch match last season by scoring just before someone caught the snitch, it’d have been a genius move. I’m saying that because I have a brain.”

“I didn’t say I thought they were being fair,” his friend snapped. “But—”

“And, while we’re on the topic,” Albus added, his voice still calm, “I’ll thank you to remember that _I’m_ a Gryffindor, too, and I don’t think that _I’m_ particularly arrogant or judgmental.” He grinned. “Maybe a little reckless, though.” Scorpius opened his mouth, and Albus added, “I _chose_ to be in my house, and I’ve never once regretted it.”

Rose had known that, but she didn’t think he’d ever told anyone outside of her, James, and his father. He certainly hadn’t told Scorpius, who had been completely diverted from his anger and was staring at Albus like he’d grown a second head.

“You _chose_ to be in Gryffindor?”

Her cousin was looking uncharacteristically smug. “Yes, I did.”

“I always just assumed it stuck you there.” Scorpius shook his head. “Why would you _choose_ Gryffindor?” Rose glared at him. He ignored her.

“Because, shocking as it might be, I _do_ value courage and nerve,” Albus said, running his hand through his hair in exactly the same way his brother did. Rose had to work to hide a smile. “I just don’t show it as much as some of my family does right now.” He shook his head at his friend’s dumbstruck expression. “I _told_ you I wanted to be an Auror,” he pointed out. “I don’t see why it’s so shocking that I’d value those traits.”

“You don’t have to be a Gryffindor to be an Auror,” Scorpius said, who was still apparently very confused.

“No, you don’t,” Albus agreed. “But I wanted to be in Gryffindor. My brother was in Gryffindor, and so was Roxanne, and I _knew_ that’s where Rose would end up. And I value those traits. So I chose to be in Gryffindor.”

“So you could have been in _Slytherin?”_ She could see the wheels in Scorpius’s head turning, and she couldn’t help laughing aloud. Albus was so far from being a Slytherin it was comical to think that anything with any sense would have ever put him there.

“Did I say that?” Albus asked mildly. “The hat was between two different houses. I didn’t say one of them was Slytherin.”

“What was the other option, then?” his friend demanded. In Rose’s opinion, Scorpius was being especially slow. There was only one other house Albus would have fit in.

Albus ran his hand through his hair again, and this time, Rose couldn’t hide a smile. “Hufflepuff.” He looked at Rose. “What?”

She shook her head. “You’re doing that thing with your hair that James always does.”

He started. “Am I?” he asked in surprise. “I _never_ do that.”

“You do it sometimes,” Rose said. “Just not very often.”

“I do?”

“Yes,” Scorpius agreed distractedly. “You do. Not very often, but you do. I notice it, because it always throws me.”

Albus blinked a few times, clearly disconcerted. “I didn’t know that.” He shook himself, and brought the conversation back to its original topic. “You have to admit that their reasoning is really stupid.”

“I _know,”_ Scorpius said tiredly. Al’s revelation seemed to have dampened his irritation dramatically. “Albus, Rose, I _do_ know. You asked me why. That’s why. Kitty was worshipped by almost everyone in my house. They’re just…” He trailed off and shrugged. “Look, I didn’t say _I_ felt like that.”

“Do you?” Albus asked suspiciously.

Scorpius shook his head. “Not really. I hated the Gryffindor Quidditch team for my own reasons.”

“You just used past tense,” Rose pointed out.

“Intentionally,” he said dryly. “Believe it or not, I’m feeling much more favorably disposed to your team now that everyone I disliked on it has stopped being quite so unfriendly toward me.”

“I _told_ you.”

Scorpius rolled his eyes. “I think that you all might have redeeming characteristics. My previous opinion is still largely intact.”

“I’d better have redeeming characteristics.” Rose nudged him, and he smiled faintly. “Come on. I have to get the Common Room to get a little work done before dinner, and right after dinner I have practice.”

“You think you might find it in you to root for Gryffindor, Scorpius?” Albus teased as the three made their way toward the stairs.

“I actually told Rose the other day - I think I _am_ rooting for Gryffindor.” When Albus looked taken aback, he shrugged. “I don’t especially care about anyone on the Hufflepuff team, and it seems unsporting to root against Gryffindor when they’re making an effort to, you know, be friendly. Even if James’s idea of ‘friendly’ is green hair.”

When she and Albus reached the turn that would take them to the staircase to Gryffindor tower, they both turned.

“Are you both irritated with me?” Scorpius asked, leaning against the railing. “Because that would be stupid.”

Albus shook his head, and they both looked at Rose. “A little,” she admitted. “But I’ll get over it by the time practice is done.”

He sighed and turned away. “I’ll see you, then.”

Albus was quiet as they climbed the stairs. Once they’d climbed through the portrait hole to their common room, however, Albus said, “His face was priceless.”

Rose giggled. “Yes. It was.”

“What was priceless?” a familiar voice called. Rose and Albus looked toward it, and saw James and Marion sitting at a nearby table. They joined them.

“Have you both been getting excessive nastiness from Slytherins lately?” Albus asked them.

James grinned and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know what excessive means. I think most Slytherins consider me their least favorite person in the school.”

Marion smirked. “That’s true enough.” She frowned for a minute, and then said, “Though yes, come to think of it. I remember thinking that it was a little strange, since we’re not playing them, but I assume they’re still bitter about the Cup last year.”

“They are,” Albus said. “Apparently, they think we won unfairly and that Kitty told them to lay off was because she was pining after Dominique.”

James and Marion both stared at him for a moment, and then James said, “That’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. Whose face was priceless?”

“Scorpius. I told him I chose to be in Gryffindor.”

His brother smirked. “I’m sure he loved that.”

Marion, on the other hand, looked surprised. “Did you?”

“Yes,” Albus said. “I could have been a Hufflepuff.”

The front legs of his chair thudded onto the ground, and James reached across the table to ruffle his brother’s hair. “He knew that Gryffindor was where all the best people were.”

Albus rolled his eyes. “Yes, James. That was exactly it.”

“We all know you want to be just like me.”

Marion nudged him. “James, one of you is already more than the world can take.”

He grinned. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“I _think_ I meant it as one,” she said, smiling back.

Rose and Albus exchanged a look, but neither of them felt daring enough to actually ask the two sixth years about the status of their relationship (or lack thereof).

Rose and Albus exchanged a look, but neither of them felt daring enough to actually say something. Instead, they both began to work on their History of Magic assignment that was due the next morning.

James ended up calling practice off early that evening. Ostensibly it was out of the goodness of his heart because they’d been practising so much lately, but given how quickly both he and Marion disappeared once they got back to the castle, she had her doubts.

Rather than dwell on it, however, Rose headed to the library to retrieve a book before returning to the Gryffindor Common Room. She’d bother James about it later, when he was in a much better mood.

She’d just retrieved the book when she heard Noah’s voice. She was about to stick her head out from behind the bookshelf when she processed what he’d just said: “Wait, you almost said _what_ to Rose Weasley?”


	34. Eavesdropping in the Library (Again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose overhears a conversation between Scorpius and Noah that literally makes her collapse.
> 
> _"Teenagers."_

Rose remembered all too well what Scorpius had said about her eavesdropping. She knew that he would be exceedingly unhappy if he knew that she was there if she didn’t speak up right now. The thought of his face if he found out made her seriously consider stepping out from behind the bookshelves, quickly, before he could answer Noah’s question.

However, she wasn’t entirely sure that she could have moved even if she’d wanted to. Her feet felt fixed to the spot.

“I know,” she heard Scorpius say. “I _know.”_

If she was going to say something to announce her presence, she knew she needed to say it _now._

She didn’t.

Noah sounded much less amused than he usually did when he was talking about Scorpius’s feelings about Rose. “Scorpius, what is _wrong_ with you?”

“Well, I _didn’t_ say it,” Scorpius muttered defensively, and she wrinkled her nose, wishing that they would stop being so vague. She already knew that she was going to feel exceedingly guilty about this later, and she wanted the guilt to at least be worth her while.

“Did you mean it?” Noah asked. She wasn’t always good at reading between the lines, and while she felt like she probably _should_ have at least some inkling of what they were talking about, she didn’t have a clue. She couldn’t even think of a time recently where it had seemed like Scorpius was _going_ to say something and didn’t at the last minute, though Merlin knew that she wouldn’t have necessarily noticed, anyway.

Scorpius cleared his throat. After a moment, he muttered something that she couldn’t quite catch. She leaned in closer to the bookshelf and rose up on her tiptoes, though she doubted that either adjustment would help her hearing. She wished that she had an extendable ear with her, but she didn’t have the nerve to summon one - it was too risky, and at any rate, it probably wouldn’t even get there in time.

There was a long silence. Just as she was starting to get antsy, Noah spoke again. “Scorpius,” he said in a voice that was far too calm to be natural, “you’ve been going out with her - or whatever you want to call it - for, what, a month? How can you _love_ her?”

Rose’s stomach leapt into her throat, and she felt her legs start to weaken. She allowed herself to sink down to the floor, afraid that if she didn’t sit down immediately, her legs would give out, anyway.

She was so distracted by this revelation that she missed the next minute of conversation, and she refocused just as Scorpius said, “Look, I know it was stupid.”

“No,” she whispered sarcastically. “You think?” Now she knew exactly when he’d almost said it: it must have been by the lake. She was very glad he _hadn’t;_ at least now she could process it without having to talk to him, too, because at the moment, she had absolutely no idea how she felt about the revelation.

Noah muttered something. She couldn’t hear the words, but his tone made his general sentiment clear: he thought that his cousin was an idiot.

“It just kind of felt right, you know?” Scorpius said. He sounded a little desperate, and she realised with a start just how unfortunate it was for him that he was going out with one of the two girls he couldn’t possibly speak completely openly about with Albus. Rose was coming to understand the friendship the three boys shared a little better, and it was clear that Noah tended to be a little more blunt and a little less sympathetic.

Noah declined to answer the question directly. “You’ve spent four years antagonizing her, Scorpius. Really?”

“I like her _now,_ though. She’s funny and she does have a sweet side-”

Noah muttered something that Rose couldn’t quite hear.

“Oh, shut up.”

Noah’s good humour finally seemed to be returning. “I’ve noticed. And by the way, I told you all of that last year, and the year before. You didn’t believe me.”

After a moment, Scorpius changed the subject; apparently, there was only so much talking about his feelings that he could take. Rose knew that she needed to get up and leave the area immediately, in case one of them got up to get a book, but she couldn’t bring herself to rise.

“What are you doing?” she heard someone ask softly, and her head snapped up. A tall, thin boy was standing at the end of the aisle. At the sight of her face, he approached her quickly and noiselessly. “Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling down.

Rose glanced at the bookshelf separating her from Scorpius and Noah. Louis followed her gaze, and after a moment, he sighed.

“Who were you eavesdropping on?” he asked patiently, and she was startled out of her discomfort and awkwardness enough to let out an undignified snort. Sometimes her cousins knew her far too well.

“Scorpius Malfoy and Noah Nott,” she whispered after a minute.

He rocked back on his heels. “Well, then. You’re eavesdropping on your boyfriend and his cousin, who happens to be a prefect. That’s not the best plan you’ve ever come up with, Rose. Do you even have the cloak with you?” She shook her head. “Of course you don’t. Rosie, when you eavesdrop, you need to have an escape plan. Haven’t you learned that by now?”

She smiled despite herself. “Sorry to disappoint.”

He straightened up and offered her his hand. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. “Okay.” He reached back and pulled his wand out of his back pocket. “I’m going to help you out. Just this once.” He tapped her head, and she immediately had the very uncomfortable sensation of ice-cold water running down the back of her neck. When she looked down, she found that she was essentially see-through.

Despite the difficulty she was having with processing what Scorpius was apparently feeling toward her, Rose couldn’t help but appreciate the irony: she’d told him once that she’d eavesdropped on him using a Disillusionment Charm someone had cast on her, and here it was, coming true.

Her cousin jerked his head toward the door, and she followed him out. Once they’d gotten a safe distance from the library, he lifted the spell. The corridor was mercifully deserted, and she slumped against the wall. After a moment, she slid down it to sit on the floor.

Louis joined her. “So what happened?”

“I heard my boyfriend tell his cousin that he almost told _me_ that he loves me,” she said numbly.

To her surprise, Louis gave a snort of laughter. “Are you serious?” he asked her, and she nodded. “Merlin.” He let his head rest on the wall behind them. _“Teenagers.”_

“What, and you’re not?”

“Well, I’m not fifteen.” Louis shook his head. “What an idiot.”

A sizable part of Rose agreed wholeheartedly with her cousin; she couldn’t understand why Scorpius would ever consider telling her something that _weighty_ when they’d barely been able to stand the other’s presence until quite recently, whether or not he was feeling it. However, she also felt as though she really ought to be defending him - after all, she supposed that she really was basically his girlfriend, and wasn’t that what girlfriends were supposed to do?

She compromised with a vague glower, and her cousin laughed out loud.

“Oh, stop, Rose,” he told her. “I’m not trying to insult your boyfriend. It’s just true.”

She groaned and let her head drop onto her knees. “I know,” she admitted into her trousers. “Ugh.”

Louis patted her on the back. “Don’t worry,” he said cheerfully. “That’s just how fifth years are. He’ll - er - probably not actually get up the courage to say it for at least another month. Maybe two.”

She turned her head toward him. “Not helping.”

“I usually don’t.”

She sighed and pushed herself to her feet. “Thanks,” she said as he followed suit. “Really. I think I’m going to head back to my Common Room.”

He fell into step with her, and after a moment, he asked, “So are you going to tell Albus or James first?”

She put her hands behind her head and stretched as she considered the question. “I dunno. Maybe neither.”

She could tell that he didn’t really believe that she wouldn’t tell them, and in all fairness, she wasn’t entirely sure she could would be able to stop herself… but she did feel like the least she could do was at least tell Scorpius _first._

“Good luck, at any rate,” Louis said when they reached the fork that would take them each up to their respective towers. He gave her a hug that almost lifted her off her feet - Louis was much taller than she was - and added, “It’ll be okay. I promise.” She smiled faintly as he walked off.

When she returned to the Common Room, she avoided both of the Potter boys and joined Damien and Colleen at a table in one of the corners instead. Louis probably was right; she’d brave James’s teasing and Albus’s irritation for their advice, which she was feeling like she desperately needed.

However, she didn’t think that she could deal with either one tonight, and she knew that they’d be able to tell that something was wrong. However, unlike Louis, they would almost certainly press her about it, and she didn’t think that she could deal with that just yet.

Once she’d finished helping Colleen with their Herbology assignment, it was late enough for her to reasonably head upstairs. She was relieved to do so and avoid her cousins for the night.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust them; she did. It was just that they’d want to know a lot more than Louis had, and at the moment, she was feeling so uneasy with the concept of Scorpius Malfoy _loving_ her that she just wanted to forget it - or, barring that, push it as far out of her mind as possible. The very last thing she wanted was to spend time analyzing and dissecting it.

She also rather doubted that either Albus or James would fail to ask her the question that Louis had so tactfully avoided, and she didn’t have an answer to it.


	35. Confessions Are Awkward Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius fight over her eavesdropping and she seeks out Lucy for a hug.
> 
> _“He basically said that he didn’t want anything to do with m - me.”_

Rose woke up resolved to forget about the conversation she’d overheard - or at the very least, push it out of her mind. She actually made a pretty good show of it on Tuesday, which was definitely helped along by the distraction of Quidditch practice and the fact that Scorpius couldn’t follow her while she patrolled even if he’d wanted to because he’d landed himself in detention for skipping class again.

By Wednesday, however, it was starting to eat away at her, especially with the Quidditch match fast approaching. By the end of Care of Magical Creatures, her resolve had crumbled.

She’d managed to greet Scorpius perfectly normally when she sat down next to him, but when he’d grabbed hold of her hand partway through the lesson, it had brought the conversation she’d overheard rushing back. By the end of class, he could clearly tell something was wrong.

The only mercy was that he didn’t appear to realise yet that it had to do with him.

“Are you okay?” he asked with genuine concern during a lull in the lesson, and she forced a smile.

“I’ll live.” He continued to study her, and the worry lines on his forehead deepened. Rose made a split second decision. “Can you - er - after class-”

“Sure,” he said quickly. “Yeah. Absolutely.”

When the rest of the fifth years began to trudge up the hill toward the castle, he hung back while she took her time about packing up her books. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to have turned into hippogriffs, which really was extraordinarily uncomfortable, and she was having a hard time breathing. If it was just admitting that she’d eavesdropped, that would be one thing, but this was probably going to require her to deal with what she’d overheard, and she was more than a little afraid of what a conversation about that might lead to.

“So what’s wrong?” he asked as they started to follow their classmates up to the castle, albeit at a much slower pace.

For a moment, Rose was sorely tempted to try to distract him. She was fairly certain that she could... but then she’d be giving into cowardice, and that would be wrong.

A cool breeze blew across their faces, and she felt herself relax a little. The issue confronting her was no different than it had been five minutes before, but there was something about the autumn air that improved her disposition enough to give her the strength to tackle the issue.

“I-” She swallowed hard. This was even harder than she’d expected it to be, and from the expression on his face, he was starting to catch up. “I was in the library two nights ago,” she said in a rush before she could lose her nerve. “I just - I didn’t mean to be, I just was, and...” she trailed off. They’d reached a small patch of trees, and she let herself collapse into a pile of leaves under one of them, feeling very miserable.

She had liked it much better when she hadn’t felt guilty about eavesdropping on him.

“And you overheard something?” Scorpius asked carefully. She nodded, and he knelt down. “A conversation between me and Noah?” She nodded again, and he rocked back onto his heels. “Bloody _hell.”_

“I didn’t _mean_ it,” she said again without looking up from the ground. She didn’t want to see his face. “I was just _there,_ and then you were talking, and before I could-”

“Before you could what?” he asked. His voice was already heated. “Tell us you were there?” She didn’t respond, and he let himself fall backward so that he was sitting on the leaves, too. “It’s really not that hard. All you have to say is, ‘Hey, guys, I’m here.’”

“I _couldn’t.”_ He gave a snort of skepticism, and she felt her temper start to rise, too. “It’s _true,”_ she snapped. “There I was in the library, minding my own business and trying to find a book, and suddenly there you are talking about - it’s not my fault. I didn’t go there to eavesdrop on you, believe it or not.” She spat the last few words out, and he sighed.

“I believe you,” he said after a minute. “If you had, you wouldn’t be looking so miserable.”

“And then you started talking and I couldn’t move.” He started to say something, but she talked over him. “No, I _literally_ couldn’t move. Where do you get off talking about something like - like _that_ \- in the _library,_ anyway?”

She knew that she really should have stepped out and told them that she was there as soon as she’d heard them, but at the same time, she hadn’t even been _wearing_ the cloak. If she overheard them, anyone could have, and that made it at least as much their fault as hers.

That was fair enough for her to halfway believe it, anyway, and it made her feel a little better.

Scorpius didn’t respond, and she peeked up at his face. It was inscrutable.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to.”

He closed his eyes. “Well, you did.”

“You didn’t care this much before,” Rose pointed out.

“Yeah, well, before we weren’t anything but two people who didn’t really like each other, so I had no real expectation of respect.” His tone was still fairly mild, but there was an edge to it that made her nervous.

“I respect you,” she insisted. “I didn’t _mean-”_

Scorpius cut her off. “I believe you, but I have a hard time believing that there wasn’t any point that you could have stepped out and said, ‘Hey, I’m here, stop talking.’”

Rose didn’t say anything. She couldn’t think of anything to say, largely because he was right.

“Yeah,” he said. “I thought so.”

She broke the silence just as it was becoming awkward and uncomfortable. “Are you breaking up with me?” she asked in a small voice.

His eyebrows shot up. “Dunno,” he said casually. “I wasn’t aware that we were actually going out.” She reached out to smack his arm lightly, and a shadow of a smile appeared on his face.

“You know what I mean.”

“I actually don’t, but...” He sighed. “Merlin, Rose. I don’t know.” Her heart leapt into her throat, and he shook his head. “No. I guess not. It’s...” He fell backwards onto the ground and gazed up at the sky. “It’s not really about that,” he said. “You overheard something you really, _really_ shouldn’t have, and it’s going to change the way you...”

Rose was slightly heartened by the fact that he seemed to be having quite as much trouble talking about all of this as she was. “But I told you,” she pointed out when he didn’t continue. “Right now, which is basically as soon as I could, I barely saw you yesterday.”

He shrugged, and the leaves crackled beneath his shoulders. “True,” he said. “How much time did it take Al to persuade you?”

“He doesn’t know.” Scorpius looked a little taken aback, and she added, “James doesn’t, either. I decided to tell you all on my own.”

“Huh.” His gaze flickered over to her. “Well, that’s progress for you, isn’t it?”

“Mm.”

He looked back up at the sky and sighed again. He was doing an awful lot of sighing, and it was Rose’s experience that sighing rarely led to anything good.

“Rose,” he said after a moment, and she steeled herself for the blow. “Don’t take this the wrong way - I really _am_ glad that you told me - but right now I’m feeling pissed off and kind of embarrassed, so can you please go away?”

That wasn’t quite as bad as she’d expected, but it was bad enough. “I am sorry,” she said as she prepared to push herself to her feet. “Really.”

“I know you are.” He glanced back over at her and smiled. “You’re really bothered, aren’t you?” She nodded, and he snorted. “Serves you right. Don’t eavesdrop on me, and we won’t have this problem.” She smiled back and leaned over, intending to brush her lips against his before she left.

Scorpius, however, seemed to have other plans; he turned his head to the side, so all she got was his cheek.

Rose pulled back. He was biting his lip, and the smile had vanished as though it had never been there at all. “Just leave. Please.”

She pushed herself to her feet and walked away without looking back. She half-expected him to call something after her - an apology, a reassurance, _something_ \- but nothing was forthcoming.

When she got back to the castle, she considered joining everyone in the Great Hall for lunch, but the conversation with Scorpius had made her lose her appetite.

“Being emotionally invested in someone is awful,” she muttered as she stomped up the stairs. “Why did I ever even consider-”

She stopped herself. She knew why she’d considered it. She knew why she was hoping so strongly that Scorpius would decide to forgive her. She knew why she felt like her stomach was in her throat.

Scorpius Malfoy had definitely grown on her - a lot, and rather quickly, too.

When she got up to the Common Room, it was completely empty. While the solitude was exactly what she’d been hoping for, she appreciated it less than she’d expected to. She didn’t want to launch into the entire thing with Albus - and anyway, lunch had to be nearly over, and she was sure he’d get a good earful about it from Scorpius during Divination and Muggle Studies that afternoon.

James would probably be up here soon, but Rose didn’t especially want to talk to James about it, either. He was making an effort with Scorpius, and she knew that he’d decided that maybe the blond Slytherin wasn’t quite as obnoxious as he’d initially thought, but it still felt vaguely unsporting to talk about something so personal that she was fairly certain Scorpius would not want James knowing.

And Roxanne was certain to be no help.

She climbed back out of the portrait hole and wandered downstairs toward the Hufflepuff Common Room. Hopefully, she’d be able to catch someone coming out of it to ask where Lucy was. She was sure that Lucy would understand.

When she got to the portrait, however, there was no one there, and there didn’t seem to be any activity in the halls. She slid down the wall to the floor to wait, wishing she had a book with her. Staring at the wall hanging directly across from her could only occupy her for so long, and the smell of the food wafting through the corridor from the kitchen was reminding her of how hungry she was.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait very long; after about five minutes, she heard her cousin’s voice say, “Rose? Is that you?”

Rose looked up quickly. Lucy was approaching with Evelyn Greengrass.

“I - I was just waiting for you,” she said, stumbling over her words. Lucy cocked her head to the side and frowned a little. “But I can go, if you’re - if you’re busy and - I can go-”

Her cousin shook her head. “Rosie, it’s fine. I just need to get a book for Evy before she has to go off to Ancient Runes. I’ll just be a minute.” She whispered something to the painting hanging on the wall, and it swung open.

As it closed behind her, Rose looked over at the Head Girl. Of all the people she could be alone with right now, Scorpius’s cousin was near the bottom of the list - though at least this particular cousin probably didn’t know about his declaration of love.

“Hey, Rose,” Evelyn said, leaning against the wall. “How are you?”

Rose shrugged. That felt unfairly rude to her, however, so after a moment, she mumbled, “I’m having a bad day.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

Rose shook her head. “I’ll be okay,” she said instead. “I just need Lucy to knock some sense into me and I’ll be fine.”

Evelyn laughed. “You mean you want to cry and have Lucy rub your back and promise it’ll all be okay?”

Rose smiled despite herself. “Something like that,” she admitted as Lucy reemerged from behind the portrait.

“Well, you’ve picked the right cousin,” Evelyn said, getting to her feet as Lucy held out the book. “She’s good at that. Thanks, Luce. I’ll see you later.”

Lucy reached a hand down to Rose to help her to her feet. “Hey, Rosie,” she said. “You okay?”

Rose shook her head. “No. I-” She could feel her lower lip starting to tremble, and she stopped talking.

Lucy sighed, put an arm around her shoulder, and began to guide her away from the kitchens. “Room of Requirement or outside?” she asked.

Rose was fairly sure that Scorpius would be back inside by now, but she didn’t want to risk bumping into him again if he wasn’t. The awkwardness would probably cause one or both of them to sink into the ground. “Room of Requirement,” she managed to get out.

“Okay, then.” They started to ascend the stairs, and Lucy asked, “Did you have a fight with one of the boys?” Rose shook her head. “Roxanne?” She shook her head again, and Lucy sighed. “Your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Rose said automatically, and Lucy tightened her hold on Rose momentarily in a hug.

“I was afraid of that.” When they got to the Room of Requirement, Lucy paced in front of it while Rose leaned against the wall, trying not to burst into tears. Now that she was out of danger of bumping into anyone, it was becoming harder to hold it all together. Her emotions were hitting her like a herd of rampaging hippogriffs, and it wasn’t fun.

The door materialised, and Lucy pulled it open and motioned Rose inside. The interior looked much like it did on the occasions when Rose made her way up here for a cup (or two) of tea, and she collapsed onto the burgundy couch gratefully.

Lucy sat down next to her. “What happened?” she asked gently.

That was enough. Rose burst into tears.

“I overheard them - Scorpius and his cousin Noah - talk - talking yesterday in the li - li - library,” she sobbed. “And he said he _loved_ me and he’s not _allowed_ t - to love m - m - me, and I didn’t _mean_ it, and it’s not f - f - fair, and then I t - told him today and he told me to go a - away, and...” She trailed off and buried her face in a conveniently-placed pillow.

After a moment, she felt a hand on her back. “It’s okay,” Lucy said soothingly. “It’s okay.”

It probably took a good ten minutes for Rose to calm down enough to look up, but Lucy weathered it with more patience than Rose could ever imagine having. That was probably why Lucy was the Hufflepuff, not her.

“So let me get this straight,” Lucy said as Rose blew her nose noisily. “You accidentally overheard Scorpius Malfoy telling his cousin - I’m assuming Andrew’s little brother?” Rose nodded. “Right. You heard him saying that he loved you, and you didn’t say you were there, and now he’s mad at you?”

“Yes,” Rose said. Her eyes were beginning to tear up again. “It’s a rubbish feeling.”

“I know.” Lucy frowned. “And you claim that he’s not your boyfriend?”

“He’s not!” Rose snapped. “He’s - he’s - we’re-”

“I thought Evy told me that he’s been on and on about you lately,” Lucy interrupted her. There was a crease in her forehead as she thought about it. “And that he’s been bragging all over their Common Room about how Rose Weasley likes him and generally being a pain in the arse about it.”

Rose gave a strangled sort of laugh. “Well, I doubt he will be for much longer,” she said morosely. “He basically said that he didn’t want anything to do with m - me.”

“Oh, Rose.” Lucy leaned back against the arm of the couch. Though she was clearly taking the entire thing very seriously, there was something calming about her face. Lucy was not prone to emotional outbursts or panic. “Did he really say that?”

“Not exactly,” Rose admitted. “But that was the sentiment.”

Lucy snorted. “Somehow I doubt that. Look, Rosie, I’m sure his pride’s hurt. He likes you, and he’s probably afraid that he likes you more than you like him.” Rose’s expression must have reflected how affronted she was still feeling, because Lucy asked, “Well, _does_ he like you more than you like him?”

Rose thought about it for a minute. “Probably,” she admitted after a moment. “Or he’s had more time to process it, anyway. He’s smarter than me when it comes to that stuff.”

“Tell him that,” Lucy suggested. “And just give his pride a little time to heal.”

“I can’t tell him that I love him.”

Lucy shrugged. “You don’t have to - and honestly, Rose, I doubt he really loves you, either. He’s infatuated. Maybe he _could_ \- or will - love you eventually. But really, you’re fifteen and you’ve been involved for about a month. He doesn’t really love you. He just... you know?”

Rose’s heartbeat was finally starting to slow down. “Really? You think so?” It was essentially what Louis had told her when he’d found her, but somehow, Lucy’s delivery was finally making the message sink in.

“Yes, I do.” Lucy regarded her carefully for a moment, and then she held out her arms. “It’s okay, Rosie. I’m sure he just needs to cool down.”

Rose inched across the couch and buried her face in her cousin’s shoulder. “I love you,” she mumbled into it. “You’re the best cousin ever.”

“Wonder what the Potters boys and Roxanne would have to say to that.” Rose pulled back, and the expression on her face made her cousin laugh. “Oh, Rose. For someone who teases everyone around her nonstop, you should really get better at being teased.”


	36. The Quidditch Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gryffindor have their first Quidditch match.
> 
>  _"So I hear that I'm your boyfriend now?"_  

Rose gave Scorpius a wide berth for the rest of the day. She didn’t know how he was feeling about her just then, and she didn’t want to push it; she was already on thin ice.

Albus didn’t fail to notice that something was wrong, but when he asked her, she just shrugged and said she was tired. He didn’t seem to believe her, but when they got to History of Magic, Rose overheard Scorpius giving him a similarly evasive answer. After that, he dropped the subject. It was a relief to go to the Quidditch pitch for an hour after classes had finished for the day: at least she could put Scorpius out of her mind in the air.

After James let them go, she took a quick bath and headed down to catch the end of dinner. Roxanne fell into step with her, and as they approached the Gryffindor table, Roxanne asked loudly, “So, Rosie, how are things with your boyfriend?”

Rose felt her face flush. “None of your business,” she muttered, taking a seat next to Albus. He looked at her curiously, and she made a face. “What?”

She was afraid he’d press her for details about what had happened with Scorpius, but instead, he just said, “Oh, so you’ve decided that he is your boyfriend, then?”

“Yes,” Rose said, refusing to look up from her plate of food. She had no idea if Scorpius was going to think the better of getting involved with her now, but she had a vague feeling that continuing to insist that he wasn’t her boyfriend would only make things worse.

“Good for you,” Roxanne said as she slid in across the table from them. Albus gave her a curious look, and she grinned. “Hey, _I_ still don’t like him, but she seems to, so...” Rose smiled tentatively at her cousin, who proceeded to ruin the moment by adding, “And from what _I’ve_ seen, he seems to be very good at kissing, which bodes well for her.”

Albus snorted before going back to his food. Once he’d finished, he asked Rose if she wanted to join him in the library. Rose, however, had a pretty good idea of who else was likely to be there, and she didn’t especially want to face Scorpius just then, so she feigned exhaustion and followed Roxanne back up to Gryffindor tower instead.

She’d been too distracted by the fight with Scorpius to pay much attention to the rest of the Slytherins the day before, but when she walked by their table the next morning, she found herself on the receiving end of several scowls. She had a brief moment of wondering whether Scorpius had told his entire house about their fight before remembering what he’d told her and Albus about the Quidditch tensions.

That did not improve her mood.

“Have I mentioned that I hate Slytherins?” she snapped as she sat down across from James.

He jerked his head toward Albus. When she followed his gaze, she saw Scorpius sitting on his other side. “You have,” he said dryly.

“Just thought you’d like to know,” James said. “Though I agree.”

After breakfast, Scorpius lingered by the table as she took her time getting up and slinging her bag across her shoulder.

“Hi,” he said.

She swallowed hard. “Hi.” They started walking toward the doors, and after a moment of hesitation, she opened her mouth to ask if he was going to break up with her.

However, he spoke before she could get the words out. “So I hear that I’m your boyfriend now?”

Rose felt her face begin to burn. “Er-”

Scorpius put his hands behind his head and stretched. “Well, if that was some transparent attempt to appease me, it worked.”

She peeked a look at him. “It did?”

A grin had spread across his face. “Enough that I’m willing to forgive you, provided you don’t do it again.”

Rose studied him closely. “Why the sudden change in heart? Yesterday you wouldn’t even look at me.”

Scorpius shrugged. “I forgot I was mad at you for about an hour after Albus told me that you’d openly said I was you boyfriend. By the time I remembered, I wasn’t that angry anymore.” She breathed a sigh of relief as they passed the doors, but he stopped her before she could start down the hall. “But really, Rose - don’t do it again. This is the only free pass you’re going to get.”

She was suddenly very aware of her heartbeat. “I -”

He pulled his hand away from her arm. “I know,” he said. “You didn’t mean it. But you did it.”  Rose sagged against the wall. She knew that he was being a lot more forgiving to her than she probably deserved, given what she’d overheard him saying, but hearing it still made her feel like hell.

“Also, you look so miserable about everything that I’m pretty sure you won’t do it again.” She shook her head, and he leaned in to kiss her.

She let her bag drop to the floor and wrapped her arms around his neck.

When he pulled back, he was grinning. “So, is that our first kiss as an official couple?”

“Oh, shut up.”

Over the next few days, Rose was glad that she had her shield charm necklace. There were several Slytherins who seemed to have made it their mission to jinx her so badly she would be unable to play in the Quidditch match that weekend, and they seemed completely perturbed when the spells bounced off of her.

She was able to take this in reasonably good humour, since Scorpius didn’t seem to be showing any signs of regretting that he’d forgiven her. He also seemed to be taking the retaliation by the Gryffindors with good humour; when he told Rose and Albus about how the Slytherins had emerged from their dormitories on Thursday morning to find that their common room had been turned into a swamp, he had a hard time keeping a straight face.

He was somewhat less amused by the fireworks before dawn on Friday.

By the time they were walking down to the pitch on Saturday morning, Rose was glad to be able to just play the game. Prank wars had a tendency to annoy her after awhile, especially when they involved dungbombs being set off at regular intervals in the corridor outside the Gryffindor common room all day Friday.

When the team entered the changing room, James didn’t mince words. “We can do it,” he said simply. “Let’s go.”

As they kicked off, Rose heard Damien’s magically amplified voice. “The Hufflepuffs! Spinnet, Kirke, Mallory, Madley, Vane, Munslow, and King!” There was a roar of applause from the Hufflepuffs, and Damien continued, “And the Gryffindors! Thomas, Weasley, Jordan, Jordan, Potter, Weasley, and Potter!” He paused to let the Gryffindors cheer loudly, and added, “If you’re confused, it’s okay—sometimes I get confused, too. On the bright side, they don’t play the same positions, so if I say that Potter’s caught the snitch, you should be able to figure it out.

“And they’re off! Weasley takes hold of the quaffle! Tosses it to Jordan, who passes to Thomas, who passes back to Jordan. That’s a—nice hit by Vane and nice dodge by Jordan, who passes to Weasley. Spinnet challenges Weasley, she passes to Thomas, Kirke tries to intercept—nice hit by Potter to throw her off, and Thomas shoots! Nice save by Madley, who tosses the quaffle to Mallory.”

The cheers from the Hufflepuffs were deafening.

“Mallory to Kirke to Spinnet to—bludger hit by Potter causes Kirke to fumble, and the quaffle is snatched by Weasley. Munslow hits a bludger at her, she dodges, approaches Madley, shoots—no, wait, that was a pass to Jordan, who scores! Gryffindor takes the lead!”

Now it was the Gryffindors who could not stop screaming. Rose gave Annabelle Jordan a thumbs-up as they zoomed away from the rings, and Annabelle grinned back.

“Possession taken by Spinnet, who dodges a bludger from Potter, can she dodge the other from Weasley… no, but she passes to Mallory before it hits. Ouch, that looked like it hurt. Mallory to Kirke, who shoots—terrific save by Jordan, who tosses the quaffle back in to Jordan. Jordan to Thomas, Thomas hit by a bludger sent from Vane, but doesn’t drop the quaffle. Potter hits a bludger at Kirke, who can’t challenge—and Thomas scores! Twenty-zero Gryffindor!”

Hufflepuff seemed to regroup, however, and they went on to score three times in a row. By the third goal, the Hufflepuffs in the crowd were screaming. They’d finished last in the Quidditch Cup for two years running, largely due to a string of very bad luck, and Rose knew that they were starved for a win.

“Weasley takes possession. She speeds up, dodges a bludger hit by Munslow—no, wait, was that a dodge?”

It had not, in fact, been a dodge. The bludger had hit her shoulder, which suddenly felt like it was on fire.

“Well, she doesn’t drop the quaffle, anyway,” Damien said. “Passes to Thomas, who passes back, Weasley to Jordan, who dodges a bludger hit by Munslow, passes back to Weasley, who avoids Kirke and shoots—no, wait, that was a pass to Thomas, who passes back, and this time Weasley really does shoot—she scores! Thirty-thirty!”

Rose grimaced and rubbed her shoulder, but waved to the crowd.

“Quaffle back in to Mallory—was that the snitch?” Damien paused. “King streaks down toward the ground, that is the snitch, Potter won’t be able to get there in—a well-hit bludger by Potter forces King to veer off-path, and the snitch is gone again.”

There was a moan of disappointment from the Hufflepuffs, but another cheer from the Gryffindors.

“Mallory’s taken advantage of the distraction, moves toward Jordan, shoots to the left—no, that was a feint, he shoots to the right—Jordan misses it by centimeters! Forty-thirty Hufflepuff, and Mallory is clearly earning his place on the team!”

Noah had been right when they’d talked about the Hufflepuff Quidditch team; Gage Mallory was good. He scored twice more before Marion managed to ignore a nasty bludger hit for long enough to put the quaffle through the middle ring, and twice more immediately following that.

“Jordan. Weasley. Thomas. Jordan. Thomas. Potter and Weasley are keeping those bludgers occupied by hitting them at each other—interesting strategy, but Vane and Munslow can’t get to them to interrupt the Chasers, so I guess it’s effective. Thomas approaches Madley, and Potter and Weasley hit both bludgers toward Madley—I don’t see how she’s going to—Thomas shoots—and an amazing save by Madley!”

Rose had anticipated this match being tough, but not quite this tough; something seemed to have happened to transform the Hufflepuffs from underachievers into true competitors.

“Spinnet takes possession. Bludger mishit by Munslow forces her to drop it, tough luck. Mallory grabs it and passes to Kirke. Nice hit by Potter forces Kirke to drop it. Thomas takes possession. Spinnet intercepts when Thomas tries to pass to Weasley. Weasley hits a bludger at her, and Weasley takes possession. She—was that the snitch? Potter and King both dive toward it… And Potter’s caught the snitch! That’s 190-80, and Gryffindor wins the game!”

After making a victory lap around the pitch, James joined the rest of the team on the ground. “Good job,” he said. “Not great. But good.” He dodged a smack from Tyler. “Hey, I’m your captain, I’m supposed to be hard on you!”

“Is that what being a captain is all about?” Marion asked. He smirked, but before he could reply, she’d kissed him on the cheek and headed toward the changing room.

His grin got wider. “I told you I was irresistible.” He didn’t manage to dodge Tyler a second time. “Hey!”

From the celebration in the Common Room after the match, one might have thought that they’d won the Cup, not just the first game of the season. Once she really thought about it, though, Rose supposed that she shouldn’t be that surprised. The Slytherins had been bitter and sarcastic toward all the Gryffindors that week, not just the ones on the team, and the fact that Gryffindor was starting out at the head of the pack was always a good thing - especially since at one point, it really had seemed like they were in serious danger of losing.

And, of course, there was the fact that Scorpius hadn’t been wrong when he’d said that Gryffindors loved James.

Early that evening, Rose was sitting with the rest of the team at the center of a large crowd of Gryffindors when Albus came up behind her and murmured, “If you can break away, Scorpius is outside.” She looked at him sharply, and he rolled his eyes. “No, he did not hear the password. I came in as Holly and Caitlin were leaving.”

“Just checking.” She got up. “I’ll be right back,” she said, though she had no real intention of coming back anytime soon.

When she climbed out of the portrait hole, she found Scorpius leaning against a wall reading a book. “I wasn’t actually expecting you to come out for awhile,” he said, looking a little surprised.

Rose shrugged. “I needed a breather,” she said.

“I thought you might. I just didn’t expect it to be right now.” He closed the book. “Congratulations.”

“How unpopular are you in Slytherin right now?” she asked curiously. “Rooting for the Gryffindors and all.”

“Fairly,” Scorpius admitted. “Even Noah’s been a little annoyed with me.” Rose wasn’t sure whether this was a situation in which she should be apologising, but as she was trying to figure it out, he laughed. “Don’t apologise. It’s not your fault. And anyway, now it’ll be the Ravenclaws all the hostility will be directed at, and I’m happy to join in with that.”

Rose flipped her hair back. “We didn’t hassle the Hufflepuffs at all,” she said airily.

“Could you possibly sound more self-satisfied?” He shook his head when she opened her mouth. “Never mind. I’m sure you could. Do you want to take a walk?”

She smiled and took the hand he offered her.

They walked in silence for a few minutes and then he said abruptly, “Am I meeting your cousins tomorrow? In Hogsmeade, I mean?”

Rose was slightly thrown by the question, and took a few moments to gather her thoughts before she could answer. “You’ve met most of them, haven’t you?”

Scorpius shrugged. “It’s… it’s different.”

“It is, isn’t it.” She frowned. “Why? Do you want to?”

“No!” he exclaimed quickly, and then sighed. “Yes. Maybe.”

“Thanks for clearing that up.”

He looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. Your family is intimidating. But isn’t that the sort of thing that people who are going out are supposed to do? Meet each other’s families?”

Rose gave the idea some serious thought before she went to bed that night, but she didn’t really come to any kind of conclusion. On one hand, she really _did_ like him, and if she was being honest with herself, she had to admit that she wanted to know what they thought of him in a context outside of “Al’s friend that was at his house when I was there for dinner that one time” or “Al’s friend who I’ve said hello to twice when I passed them in the hall.”

On the other, any meeting was sure to be deeply embarrassing for her, and she didn’t want the Weasley clan to scare him off, because… well, she really _did_ like him. 


	37. Curious Cousins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Scorpius braves Rose's hoard of cousins.
> 
>  
> 
> _"I didn’t have to sit down and get interrogated. I’m doing it because your cousin adores all of you and I really like your cousin.”_

Rose still hadn’t quite decided what to do about Scorpius the next morning, so she ate breakfast in subdued silence. Albus sent her several curious looks, but to his credit, decided to wait until it was just the two of them and Hugo heading toward the village to question her about it.

“Are you introducing Scorpius to everyone today?” he asked as a cool breeze rustled through their hair.

Hugo whirled around and looked at Rose expectantly. Since he’d heard several days earlier that she had ‘officially’ decided to start calling Scorpius her boyfriend, he’d been very put out that she hadn’t found the time to “put the two of us in a room” (as her brother had put it). When she’d pointed out that Hugo had spent plenty of time with Scorpius over the past several years, given how much time they spent with the Potters during holidays, he’d told her - with the wisdom of his vast thirteen years of life experience - that it simply wasn’t the same.

“I don’t know,” she muttered, shoving her hands further into her jacket pockets. “I don’t want anyone to scare him off.”

Albus outright laughed at her. “Rosie, if _you_ haven’t managed to do that - don’t look at me like that, you know what I mean - I don’t see _them_ doing it.”

“Hey, there they are!” her brother exclaimed, jolting her back into the present. Three figures were waving to them from their position near the entrance to the village.

“Good morning!” Victoire called out as they approached. “I feel like I haven’t seen all of you in ages.”

“It’s only been a few months,” Dominique pointed out. She’d been leaning on the sign denoting the village’s name. 

Victoire smiled, and Rose could have sworn that a dreamy look appeared in her eyes. “But so much can happen in a few months, can’t it?”

Dominique straightened up and rolled her eyes at Rose. “They’re -” she started, gesturing to Victoire and Teddy, who had his arm around the redhead, “ - getting _married_ next summer. I suppose you’re going to have to get dressed up, too. They’ll have a time finding a color that suits all of us that isn’t black or white.”

Rose had never been to a wedding before, and while it wasn’t particularly surprising that Teddy and Victoire would decide to take that final step - they’d been living together for years - she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She was happy for them, but she had absolutely no idea how to express it. She managed to stumble through a congratulations while Albus and Hugo exchanged hugs with the two.

“Wow, Teddy, now you really _will_ be part of the family, and I don’t even have to live with James.”

Teddy laughed and hugged his godbrother again. He didn’t seem able to stop smiling. “Didn’t your father quash that idea every time James brought it up?”

Dominique caught Rose’s eye and seemed to understand her predicament. “I know,” she said dryly. “Can you believe we’re letting that rabble into the family?”

Rose grinned, and Victoire shoved her sister gently. “Shut up,” she said as Hugo threw his arms around her again.

Dominique winked at Rose, who felt herself begin to relax. “Congratulations,” she said again. “Really, guys. That’s great.”

Victoire peered into the groups of students streaming by. “Where’s my brother? Have you seen him yet today?”

Just as they were shaking their heads, however, Louis emerged from one of the groups approaching them.

“Louis!” Victoire and Dominique cried simultaneously. Before he could do more than exchange a hug with them each, though, Victoire blurted out, “I’m getting married.”

His eyes widened. “Right now?”

“Yes, right now,” she said sarcastically. “No, you idiot, next summer.”

He looked at Teddy. “You mean he’s _actually_ going to be my brother-in-law?”

“Hey, Lou. Nice to see you too.”

Louis grinned. “No, really, congratulations.” He hugged Victoire again before moving on to Teddy. “It’ll be nice to call you my brother without using a qualifier.”

This process was repeated three more times in the next fifteen minutes, with first the appearance of Lucy, then Lily, and finally James and Roxanne. By the time everyone had congratulated them and they’d begun to wander through the village, it was just after ten.

It was a perfectly enjoyable morning. Rose looked for an opening to mention Scorpius, but she couldn’t find a way to work him into the conversation - though admittedly, she wasn’t trying very hard - and her cousins were too distracted with talk of the upcoming wedding and generally catching up with Teddy, Victoire, and Dominique to do it for her.

By the time they entered the Three Broomsticks that afternoon, she’d essentially given up. She’d tell them next visit. As a group of them enjoyed their butterbeers (or, in Teddy’s and Dominique’s case, firewhiskey) at a table by one of the windows, Fred seemed to appear from nowhere and pulled a chair up to their table.

“Hey. I thought I might find you here. I can’t be away for too long, but Dad sends a few of their people to help on days that the Hogwarts students come in, so I ducked out for a bit. We’re making a killing. The new swamps are already sold out. What did you do with them?” Lily and Roxanne grinned at each other over their butterbeers, and Fred laughed. “Well, keep doing it every time we have a new product.”

As Teddy talked about his most recent trip to France, which had apparently involved the catacombs, Rose saw Charlotte Finnigan walk into the Three Broomsticks with Evelyn and Noah’s brother, Andrew. She nudged Dominique and jerked her head toward them. Dominique looked over, stiffened a little, and turned determinately back to Teddy.

Charlotte, Evelyn, and Andrew sat down at a table near them. Lucy leaned over and began talking to Andrew about an astronomy assignment. After a moment of hesitation, Charlotte called over, “Hi, Dominique.”

Dominique turned. “Oh, I didn’t see you come in,” she said breezily. “How are you?”

Charlotte shrugged. “A little busy. You know how seventh year is. How’s training?” she asked, her gaze lingering on Dominique’s newly-shorn hair and the bandage on her arm.

Dominique laughed gaily and tucked her hair behind her ears. “Terrific. No regrets at all.” She noticed Charlotte looking at her arm, and gestured toward the bandage. “Got a burn off a Welsh Green on Tuesday.”

“Looks nasty,” Charlotte commented.

“It’ll be mostly healed by next week.” Dominique shrugged. “Really, this is nothing. You should see the burn Piper got three weeks ago, she was in St. Mungo’s for days.”

Rose resisted the urge to sigh. From the way Dominique was addressing Charlotte, you would think that they were nothing more than casual acquaintances. In reality, they’d spent half of the previous year going out.

Victoire had stepped in and seemed to be trying to smooth everything over, which was funny in and of itself. Victoire could be quite blunt; if she was trying to play the peacemaker, Rose clearly wasn’t the only one who thought that Dominique was being a bit unreasonable.

Charlotte hesitated for a moment before asking, “Would you like to take a walk? We should catch up. I haven’t talked to you in months.”

Dominique shrugged, as though it didn’t make any difference to her at all. Rose was fairly sure she didn’t believe the show of apathy, so she wasn’t surprised when Dominique answered, “I suppose. It’s nice out. The fresh air would be nice.”

James had apparently been listening in on their conversation, too, because as Dominique got up, he said, “Right, because you never get fresh air, since dragons are really indoor creatures at heart.” As she walked past him, Dominique smacked the back of his head lightly. “Hey!” She looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him. He grinned back. After the door had closed behind them, he leaned over to Rose and whispered, “Don’t you wish we had the cloak with us?”

“Yes,” she admitted.

Victoire leaned over to them both and hissed, “If she doesn’t tell you, she doesn’t want you to know. Leave her be.”

Rose frowned as a thought occurred to her. “Do you spy on _me?”_

“Nah.” James took a drink of his butterbeer. “Your relationship isn’t interesting enough. And unlike Dominique, you’re willing to tell me about it.”

“What relationship?” Victoire asked.

“Nothing,” Rose said quickly, wishing that she could kick James without anyone else noticing. “James has got a girlfriend, though, he’s going out with Marion Thomas. You should ask him all about it.”

Victoire, Teddy, Fred, and Lucy all looked at James with interest. “So that’s worked out, then?” Fred asked.

James, however, unlike Rose, was very difficult to phase. “Seems like that."

Louis did not seem nearly as interested by this. “Have you finally, then? It’s about time. Hasn’t she fancied you for years?”

This clearly _did_ take James by surprise. “Has she?” He furrowed his brow. “How would _you_ know?”

Louis shrugged. “You just need to pay more attention.” He took a sip of his butterbeer and added, “But you shouldn’t let Rose distract you from _her_ relationship.”

Albus grinned. “Yeah, we shouldn’t. She _has_ got a boyfriend.”

“I - well - oh, shut _up.”_ Albus raised his eyebrows, and she felt her face start to burn. “You know, you’re not helping.”

“Were we meant to?” asked Roxanne. “I thought we were meant to embarrass you. My mistake.”

“Who?” asked Victoire quickly.

“Scorpius,” Albus said before she could reply. When she turned her gaze to glare at him, he was still grinning.

“Scorpius _Malfoy?”_ asked Victoire, looking a little surprised. “Your friend?”

Albus nodded. Rose was starting to feel rather like a cornered rabbit. She was starting to wonder whether it would be worth it to jinx a cousin or two to make an escape when James shook his head.

“Rosie, you can’t jinx us.” He held up his arm. An innocent-looking charm was dangling off the cord around his wrist.

She scowled and glanced around the Three Broomsticks. She didn't see anyone who might have rescued her from the conversation, and Lucy had gotten distracted and was now chatting with Evelyn. This was quite unfortunate, as she was probably the only cousin who might have been willing to help Rose change the subject.

“Leave me alone,” she mumbled. It would be just her luck if Scorpius walked into the Three Broomsticks just then.

“Hey, Scorpius!” Albus called. She jerked her head up and looked toward the door. There was no one there. She glared at Albus, and he laughed. She had just put her head back down onto the table when he called out again, and this time, she heard Scorpius’ voice calling back.

She groaned and picked her head up off the table just in time to see Scorpius separating from Noah and Claire and made his way toward them. “Hey, Al. Rose.” He paused. “The rest of you. It’d take half the afternoon to name all of you. No Dominique?”   
“She’ll be back at some point.” Louis pulled a chair over to their table. “Sit down and let us interrogate you, I haven’t had the chance to do it properly.”

Scorpius hesitated. “Only if Rose is okay with it, since I assume that’s why I’m being interrogated.”

Rose sighed, deciding that it was probably best to just get it over with. If he wasn’t going to break up with her for eavesdropping on him telling his cousin that he was in love with her, he probably wouldn’t do so for this. “Yes, it’s fine.”

“All right.” He sat down. “It’s only that it looks like you could fry an egg on your face, and that’s usually not a good thing.”

“You’re Johanna’s cousin, right?” Teddy asked, and Scorpius nodded. Rose saw a small smirk and Teddy’s face, and she realized that if Scorpius’s cousin Johanna was really as close with Teddy as Scorpius seemed to think, her soon-to-be cousin probably already knew at least half of the story. “Who’s your team?”

That was such an abrupt change of subject that it took Scorpius a few moments to process it. “Pride of Portree,” he said at last. He looked apprehensive; he clearly knew that one’s Quidditch team could be a major factor in getting a person’s approval. This was especially true in Rose’s family, but she didn’t see how he could know that, unless he was drawing his conclusions from the number of them who had played Quidditch in school.

Teddy’s expression cleared. “Oh, good.” Teddy had been raised on Pride of Portree - not even Rose’s aunt’s time on the Harpies had been able to sway him from his grandmother’s favorite team. “I’m a big Portree fan myself.” He made a face. “No matter how much I hate McDonnell. I’ve heard they’re getting tired of him, though; did you see that they started Cooper instead yesterday?”

Scorpius shook his head. “No. How’d he do?”

“Scored a hundred points,” Teddy said. “Though I think Anderson and Grant both passed when they could have shot, to make him look even better. They’re tired of McDonnell, too.”

“Hold on,” Fred said loudly. “Maybe Portree makes him acceptable to you, but it just makes it worse for me. Portree aren’t willing to play rough. They’re always whining about being hit or fouled—”

“So says the Falcons fan,” Teddy said scornfully. “No, seriously, Scorpius, don’t listen to Fred. He doesn’t matter.”

Rose had to admit to some amusement when, fifteen minutes later, they were all still bickering about Quidditch teams. Quidditch really was a good ice-breaker. Scorpius had clearly relaxed a fair amount: he was arguing with Louis about whether the Tornadoes’ inconsistency was due to simple bad luck when Dominique returned.

“Hello, Scorpius Malfoy,” she said, sitting down.

He looked at her. “Hi,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. Her reappearance had clearly made him feel a little more awkward, and Rose had a brief moment of jealousy and insecurity before she realised that it was probably Dominique’s slightly discomforting appraisal that was putting him on edge, not her looks.

Rose knew the feeling.

“We’ve been arguing about Quidditch teams,” Fred told her, grinning.

“Who’s your team?” Scorpius asked. Rose had to stop herself from groaning. 

Dominique leaned back in her seat and folded her arms. “Arsenal.”

Scorpius frowned. “Come again?”

“I said, Arsenal.”

“Football,” Rose said quickly. “Dominique thinks that football is better than Quidditch.”

Scorpius opened his mouth, looking confused, and closed it again.

Teddy laughed. “Yeah, we all think she’s mad, too. Don’t worry.”

Rose expected Dominique to begin reciting her list of all of the reasons why football was better than Quidditch, so she was surprised when her cousin led Teddy’s comment go and instead asked, “What do you want to do when you leave Hogwarts, Scorpius?”

Despite the initial appraisal, Dominique was clearly on her best behavior. Rose made a mental note to thank her later.

“I’m thinking about being a Healer,” he said tentatively.

She nodded. “Worthy profession. I hope you can patch me up when they wheel me in covered in hideous burns.”

Well, maybe not her _best_ behavior.

Scorpius glanced at Rose. “It really _does_ run in your family, doesn’t it?” She shrugged.

Louis rapped on the table to get Scorpius’s attention. “So, Scorpius, how long have you liked Rosie for?”

Rose couldn’t quite manage to stop herself from giggling at Scorpius’s expression. Now that the Quidditch banter was over, _he_ was the one starting to look trapped.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Scorpius said abruptly. “I don’t like Louis. Andrew and Evy are clearly delusional.”

Louis snorted. “Is the question really that hard to answer?”

“With all of you breathing down my neck? Let me think about it.” He paused. “Yes. Next question?”

Three uncomfortable questions later - Rose’s cousins were clearly getting into the spirit of it - Scorpius said pointedly, “You know, I’d really appreciate it if you all made an effort to remember that there are eight of you and one of me. I didn’t have to sit down and get interrogated. I’m doing it because your cousin adores all of you and I really like your cousin.”

Albus wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding his smile.

Fred was the first to react to Scorpius’s speech. “Oh, I guess you’re okay. I still don’t really _like_ you, but don’t take it personally.”

“Thanks. I’ll try not to take that personally.”

The corner of Fred’s mouth twitched. “I’ve got to get back to the shop - I’ll see you all later. And V, Teddy, congratulations again.”

“We just got engaged,” Victoire said in response to the confusion on Scorpius’ face.

“Oh,” he said. “Congratulations.”

Teddy stretched. “I’m tired of sitting around. Lou, do you want to go find Hugo and wander up to the shrieking shack? Scorpius, ignore Fred, you’re fine in my book. Portree fans are very rarely bad people, and you’re clearly a real fan.”

“As opposed to what, Teddy?” asked Victoire. She looked as though she was trying to hide a laugh.

“As opposed to a fake fan. You know, the kind of person who just becomes a fan when the team starts winning and can’t actually name most of the players.”

Dominique smirked. _“I’m_ a real fan. I can name every Arsenal player who’s been registered with the team since 1998.”

“Well, bully for you,” Teddy, Louis, and Lucy said at the same time. They rolled their eyes at each other.

“At any rate,” Teddy said, reaching out a hand, “it was nice to see you again.”

Scorpius shook his hand. “You, too.”

Teddy looked at the rest of them and said, “It was good to see you all. Don’t feel too compelled to behave yourselves. That’s never fun.” After he and Louis had departed, Dominique looked at Rose. “Rosie, can I have a word?”

“Sure,” Rose said, getting up. She followed Dominique to a corner.

Dominique sighed and tucked her short blonde hair behind her ears. “Rosie, he really does seem perfectly nice. Just don’t get too caught up in the relationship. It’s clear that he likes you a lot, and that’s terrific and all, but there are so many more important things than boys. Don’t give up anything just because of him. He really shouldn’t enter into any of your decisions about your future. If he can’t adjust, he can find someone else.”

Rose had known that this was exactly what Dominique was going to say. At least she was consistent.

Rose leaned against the wall. “So what did you and Charlotte talk about?”

She was pleased to see a faint tinge of pink in Dominique’s cheeks. “Nothing,” she said levelly.

“Oh, so you weren’t talking, then?” Rose teased.

Dominique smiled. “We also walked.” After a moment, she relented. “We were mostly talking. Honestly, I’m not going to get too fussed about it. I need somebody a bit more adventurous.” She jerked her head toward the table. “We should get back.”

Not long after that, Dominique and Victoire regretfully got up, saying that they had to get going. After bidding them goodbye, Rose, the rest of her cousins, and Scorpius joined the students who were starting to head back up to the castle. After a few minutes, she realised that the rest of them had melted away, leaving her alone with Scorpius.

“It’s probably my turn to apologise, huh?” she asked.

Scorpius looked at her sharply. “Why would you have to?”

“My cousins…” Rose trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence.

He laughed. “Oh, that wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be.”

“How bad did you think it was going to be?”

“Worse than that,” he said vaguely. “Look, don’t worry about it. Most of them were perfectly nice.” She gave him a skeptical look. “No, I’m serious. Don’t worry about it. When you meet my cousin Johanna, we’ll be even. She’s… well, she’s something. Though, if I’d known I was going to get interrogated, I might not have bothered to get you a birthday present.”

“You got me a birthday present?”

He grinned. “It is next week, right?”

She tightened her grip on his hand and leaned over to kiss his cheek. A few passing third years let out loud giggles, and she shot a glare at them.

“You haven’t thought the better of going out with me, then?” he asked. She shook her head, and he pulled her off the path and into the covering of trees. Her heart began to beat faster as he let go of her hand, and he sank his fingers into her hair as he gave her a deep kiss. “Good.”


	38. Prying Fathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose's father demands a little more information.
> 
> _'It’s all in the past, what’s really important is our children - oh, and have fun watching my son get nice and close and very, very touchy with your daughter.’_

Rose had hoped that the initial letter from her parents would be the end of her having to talk to them about Scorpius, at least until the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, that hope ended up being entirely in vain; the letter she received from them Tuesday morning was horribly embarrassing, and she was forced to revise her earlier impression that the less her father knew, the happier he’d be. That was clearly turning out not to be the case.

Scorpius - who had used a snackbox to get out of Muggle Studies again, a pattern which Rose was quite sure would lead to several more detentions - found the follow-up letter very funny. Even Rose’s pointing out sourly that he was courting another detention didn’t deter him.

“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand. “Let me see it again.”

Rose handed it over. He ignored her scowl and began to peruse her father’s messy writing again. Rose herself didn’t need to read it again: she remembered what it said only all too well:

_Rose,_

_We’ve been hearing some troubling things about you and this Scorpius Malfoy boy, and we’re worried that you might be rushing into things with him._

(Rose suspected that ‘we’ meant ‘I,’ in this case - she couldn’t see her mother getting quite so fixated on it.)

_You haven’t really answered our last letter yet. Your mother wants to know a lot more than you’ve told her. If half of what we’re hearing is true, you need to slow down. You’ve disliked this boy for four years for a reason. Don’t let your impulses cloud your judgment. It won’t end well._

“Damn Roxanne,” Rose muttered. She was quite sure that Roxanne was where most of these ‘troubling things’ her father referenced were coming from - she couldn’t imagine Albus writing things that would cause such concern in her parents - or, rather, her father. Rose’s mother was perfectly capable of writing herself if she was really that worried, so Rose suspected that she probably wasn’t.

Scorpius handed the letter back, the broad grin still plastered across his face. “They’re been hearing _troubling things,_ Red,” he teased, throwing his legs over one arm on his exceedingly comfortable plushy green chair and leaning his back against the other; they were in the Room of Requirement, and while Rose did have some reservations about spending time with Scorpius when he was supposed to be in class _again,_ she liked his company too much to properly object.

“That’s what it says,” Rose agreed. “I don’t know what he could be talking about, though - there can’t be much that’s really _that_ troubling.”

He considered that. “I don’t know about that,” he said slowly. “Your cousins have caught us in some pretty compromising positions. Haven’t James and Roxanne walked in on you trying to rip my shirt off?”

She threw the empty chocolate frog box on the table next to her at him. “Stop exaggerating.”

He caught it and tossed it to the floor. “Well, Albus caught me with my hand up _your_ shirt that once, didn’t he?” She winced. “Oh, and James and Roxanne definitely _did_ catch us with my hand on your arse in an empty but well-traveled corridor that once.”

Rose winced. She’d managed to forget that they’d had witnesses to about half of those incidents. Thankfully, they’d developed some self-control since then.

“We’re just lucky nobody caught us when my hand was up your skirt the other day,” the blond boy continued. He looked entirely too pleased with himself. “I mean, _we_ know I was just touching your leg, but someone else might have jumped to a different conclusion.”

She’d almost forgotten about that, too. She didn’t _think_ anyone had seen them then, but she wasn’t sure - they really did need to stop getting quite so carried away by the lake. Plenty of other students liked to congregate there, even when it was chilly out.

“Hopefully he didn’t hear about _that,”_ she said. “I don’t think even Roxanne would tell them that, though, even if she did somehow hear about it.”

Scorpius licked his lips, and Rose’s attention immediately went to them. His mouth curved into a suggestive smile. “You can come over here and do some other troubling things with me that they shouldn’t know about. There’s definitely nobody here to see us now.”

“Oh, shut up.” Despite her words, though, she tossed the letter back onto the table and got to her feet. A split second later, she realized that she hadn’t really thought through how it was going to work while he was in this position, but going back to her chair would have meant that she lost face.

And whatever the situation, that was not something Rose was prepared to tolerate, even if Scorpius was the only one to see her. In fact, _especially_ not if Scorpius was the only one to see.

By this point, he really should have known better, but he was still clearly taken aback when she slung a leg over him to sit on his stomach.

“I thought you wanted to do troubling things,” she teased.

His face was beat red. “Yeah, but - I - er - wasn’t expecting you to - well, do _this.”_

Rose ran her fingers through his hair. “No?” she asked softly, leaning down to brush her lips against his. “You probably should have been, you know.”

“Probably,” he managed to gasp. “Rose, you are a _terrible_ person. You know I have Divination in less than an hour.”

She nodded, trying to keep an expression of utmost seriousness on her face. “Yeah,” she agreed. “I guess you won’t have time for any of those cold showers you like so much, huh?”

He snorted and pulled her back down for another kiss. As retaliation went, she was finding this quite enjoyable - the more she kissed Scorpius, the better he seemed to get at it, and he’d started out damn good at it in the first place.

“You know,” she said, pulling back, “you never told told me what _your_ parents said about this whole thing. You put me off because we’d just had that long conversation about your family.”

“Oh, that.” There was a twinkle in his eye. “Yeah, they’re planning to disown me. I guess we really _are_ going to have to do troubling things in private from now on.”

“No, really.”

He made a face. “Oh, fine. Get off me, then, or at least let me sit up properly. I can’t think like this.”

Rose didn’t bother to hide her smile as she shifted to perch on the arm of the chair instead. If he was going to be smug about their relationship and his effect on her state of mind, that was an open invitation for her to be, too.

Not that she wouldn’t have been anyway, of course… but she might have hid it a little better.

Maybe.

She waited expectantly while he rubbed his face with his hands; he was clearly trying to refocus on the matter at hand rather than on how much he wanted to be kissing his girlfriend. Rose was tempted to start running her fingers through his hair again - she’d discovered that it really was fun to do that, since it tended to elicit amusing reactions from him - but she restrained herself. She wanted to hear the answer to this.

He finally looked up at her. “You’re amazing, you know,” he told her.

“Stop changing the subject.”

“I’m not! You just are, and I thought I’d tell you.” She folded her arms, and Scorpius made a face. “Oh, have it your way, then. I actually - er - first wrote home about you ages ago, and we’d exchanged a few letters about it by then. I didn’t want to own up to that when I wasn’t sure whether you were about to ditch me because, you know. Skeletons in the Malfoy family closet and all that.”

“I guess that’s fair. Tell me now, though, since I didn’t.”

He grinned and leaned back against the chair. “Well, initially, my mother said to make sure I didn’t make Albus uncomfortable and my father said that this didn’t mean I was allowed to complain any more about Rose Weasley than I already do.”

Rose was startled into a giggle. “What about after that?”

Scorpius shrugged. “I dunno. Generic parent advice, I guess. My dad asked what Noah and Evy think of you - I mentioned at some point that you’re a prefect and talk to Noah a fair amount. When I said that Noah liked you and reminded him that Al absolutely adores you, he said that was good enough for him and he’d really like to meet you.”

This seemed like such a radical difference from her father’s reaction that Rose had a hard time believing it. It wasn’t as though her father had threatened to disown her or anything, but she knew that her brother, James, and Roxanne had all gotten letters from him grilling them for information on Scorpius. She knew that James and Hugo had sent back letters that were vaguely supportive, and in a rare show of unequivocal support, even Roxanne had actually let her read her response before she sent it back - though Rose wasn’t entirely sure Roxanne had been equally close-mouthed when she wrote to Fred, Dominique, or her parents.

The bland responses had apparently failed to appease her father, since he’d come back to her for more information.

“What?” She glanced up at Scorpius when he spoke; he was studying her carefully.

“It just - it’s not very dramatic, is it?”

“Rose, my father and your parents had their differences, but that was a long time ago,” Scorpius pointed out. “And your aunt and uncle like me.”

“Then what’s wrong with _my_ dad?”

“Dunno. He’s your dad, not mine.” After a moment, though, the small smile on his face broadened. “I bet that part of it, though,” he admitted, “is that my dad _knows_ that your dad is probably going to react a little poorly and get a little overprotective, so he’s getting a kick out of making himself look very calm and reasonable by comparison. ‘Oh, it’s all in the past, what’s _really_ important is our _children_ \- oh, and have fun watching my son get nice and close and very, very touchy with your daughter.’”

Rose wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. Slytherins.”

Her boyfriend’s eyes twinkled. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you’re dating a Slytherin. And what’s more, I’m pretty sure you’re enjoying it.”

Rose nudged him with her foot. When he grabbed her leg to kiss it, she thanked her lucky stars that she wasn’t wearing a skirt that day - that would have definitely distracted her. “Why would he think my dad wasn’t over it, too? Didn’t you just say it’s ancient history?”

“Well, your dad was the one who called my cousin into his office to interrogate her about me. I mean, that’s a little overprotective. My father’s not an idiot - you don’t do something like that if you’re feeling totally calm about a situation.”

There really was no arguing that. “So your dad’s just being nice about it to _goad_ mine?”

“Nah. Rose, like I’ve said, my dad loves me.” Now Scorpius was trailing his fingers up and down her calves; despite her trousers, it was still distracting, and even more maddeningly, he seemed to be completely unaffected by it. “I mean, he can read between the lines, you know? And I wasn’t exactly playing how much I liked you after we started kissing close to the chest in the first place. I think that’s piqued his interest.” He glanced up at her. “Er - speaking of which, have you decided whether you want to meet him?”

Rose had, in fact, given the matter a great deal of thought. Scorpius had left her an out with everyone but his mother, who even Rose couldn’t possibly object to - but while she fully intended to take that out when it came to dealing with Scorpius’s grandparents, she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to take it when it came to his father. On one hand, the man did still have a dark mark - Scorpius had mentioned as much - but on the other, it had sounded to Rose like Draco Malfoy had hardly gotten through the war unscathed, and from what Albus and her mother, aunt, and uncle had said, she was willing to at least entertain the possibility that he’d changed.

“Yeah, I have.”

His fingers stilled, and she realized that he was holding his breath. “And?”

She reach down to intertwine her fingers with his. “Yeah. I do.”

He let out an enormous sigh of relief. “Oh. Good.” He didn’t thank her, but she hadn’t really expected him to. “Er - by the way, speaking of my family, they want me to ask you to come to our house during the Christmas holiday.”

Rose goggled at him. “They want _what?”_

“Oh, come on, Rose, you heard me. Just… like, dinner or something. Or - well, my mum said to invite you to stay for a couple days. Like, overnight and everything.”

Rose, who had been about to protest, felt her ears perk up at this. “Overnight?” Scorpius nodded - he seemed to know exactly where her mind had jumped, because there was a small smile on his face now. “Are your parents the type who would set spells to tell them if one of us sneaked out of the room we were supposed to be sleeping in?”

Scorpius shrugged. “I’ve never had the opportunity to test it before, but I don’t _think_ so.”

“Hmm.”

He winked at her. “Are you already plotting to take advantage of me?”

“Yeah, right, like you need me to ‘take advantage’ of you.”

Scorpius raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it. He ruined the romance, however, by making a face. “Ugh. Now all I can think about is the Christmas holiday, and it’s still more than a month away.”

“I think we can entertain ourselves until then.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “You should leave for Divination soon.”

“I know.”

“Are you going to?” He shrugged. “Scorpius, you’re going to get another detention.”

“Probably, so maybe you should make it worth my while.” She pulled her hand away from his and shoved him. “Hey!”


	39. Scorpius's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose goes above and beyond for Scorpius's birthday.
> 
> _"It’s just that everyone in my dormitory is definitely going to Hogsmeade, so it’ll be empty all day..._

Rose was about to take a deeply disturbing and frightening step into the unknown.

Dating Scorpius had been strange enough, and she _still_ wasn’t quite sure how she felt about falling for a Slytherin - though she _was_ sure that how good he was at kissing and how her stomach always seemed to turn over when he smiled at her were strong mediating factors that made it okay.

But this was something different. This was going above and beyond sneaking off to kiss wherever they thought they could get away with it, holding hands in public, and even beyond his meeting her cousins during the October Hogsmeade visit.

“Oh, come on, Rosie,” Albus said impatiently. She had frozen in the doorway to the Great Hall, overcome with real panic at what she was about to do. Her cousin grabbed her elbow and pulled her inside.

She made one last-ditch attempt to talk herself out of it. “Albus, don’t you think -”

He didn’t even let her finish. Instead, he spun around and put both hands firmly on her shoulders. “Rosie.”

“Yes.”

“Do you like your boyfriend?”

“What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I do, he’s brilliant. Otherwise I wouldn’t be dating a damn Slytherin.”

“Don’t you want to make him happy on his birthday?”

“Of course I do, don’t be stupid! But I got him a present. Isn’t that enough?”

Albus didn’t even respond. He just raised his eyebrows in that annoying Albus way, and she sighed. He didn’t have to say it - she knew what he was going to say, and he was right.

“Oh, fine. Lead on.”

He released her, but just as she was considering fleeing to the safety of the Gryffindor table after all, he grabbed her arm. “You’ll survive,” he said dryly. “I promise.”

She surrendered. She hadn’t really wanted to get out of it, but if she hadn’t put up a little last minute resistance, she’d never have been able to face James and Roxanne.

When they got to the Slytherin table, Albus - who was still gripping her arm firmly - pulled her up it until they were across from Claire MacDougal. She looked up from her plate, smiling. “Hey, Al - _oh my god,_ you actually got her to do it.”

“Good morning to you, too,” Rose grumbled, climbing onto the bench and feeling very uncomfortable with this entire thing.

“Sorry,” the other girl said. “I mean, mostly. I guess. But when Albus said _you’d_ be joining us for breakfast, I was sure he was delusional.” She studied Rose closely. “Wow. You _really_ like Scorpius, don’t you?”

Rose stared resolutely down at the empty plate in front of her. “Yes.”

Albus, who had started serving himself immediately with none of Rose’s reticence - he joined his friends at the Slytherin table on a fairly regular basis - nudged Rose. She looked up, and he jerked his head toward the door. Scorpius and Noah had just walked in.

Rose clenched her hands in her lap. “He’d better appreciate this,” she muttered to Albus.

Scorpius started toward the Gryffindor table, and Rose realized with a start that he’d been planning to sit with her rather than his house on his birthday. That made her feel a little guilty, so it was immensely gratifying when Noah said something to make Scorpius look over at their own table.

When he saw Rose, his face broke into a very bright smile, and she felt her heart melt a little.

“All right,” she said to Albus. “It’s worth it just for that.”

“Hey,” Noah said when he and Scorpius reached them. He slid in next to Claire.

Scorpius, on the other hand, stopped behind Rose and wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear.

She smiled despite herself. “Happy birthday.”

He sat down next to her, which left her between Albus and Scorpius. She breathed a sigh of relief, and Scorpius gave her an amused look - he’d clearly realized that she was worried about actually having to rub elbows with Slytherins she didn’t know.

She kissed his cheek, and his smile grew.

“You’re both disgusting,” Claire told them, but it lacked the bite her remarks about Rose usually had; even she was grinning at her friend’s reaction to his girlfriend doing something she’d said on many occasions that she would never, ever do.

When they finished breakfast, most of their classmates headed back to their dormitories to prepare for the Hogsmeade visit. Scorpius, however, caught Rose’s hand when she started to follow Albus up the stairs. “Walk with me?” he asked.

Albus glanced back. “I’ll catch up with you,” she said. He rolled his eyes and hurried to catch up with James and Roxanne.

“We can’t go outside,” Rose pointed out as Scorpius led her away from the mayhem, waving goodbye to Noah and Claire with his free hand. “We’re not dressed for it.”

“I know,” he said. “Er - are there any secret passages or anything near here?”

Rose let out a loud giggle. “I thought you wanted to walk?”

“Well…” he drew out the word. “Maybe I lied a little.” They walked by a nook that looked like it had once held a suit of armor, and he pulled her into it. “Good enough.”

Rose glanced up and down the hallway. It was deserted, but she wasn’t at all confident it would stay that way. She forgot her concern momentarily, however, when she looked back at him and he leaned in for a kiss. “Thanks,” he said. “For sitting with me.”

She shrugged. “I guess it wasn’t _that_ bad. I mean, I’m not doing it on a regular basis, but it could have been worse.” She ran a finger lightly along his neck, and he shuddered. “Anyway, it was worth it just for the look on your face. I think the only time I’ve seen you smile that wide was right after I first kissed you.”

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again. She was pretty sure he’d actually pulled her down the hallway to ask her a question, but he was clearly quickly becoming distracted. She figured he’d remember what he wanted to ask her eventually, however, so she returned the kiss very happily, sliding a hand under his shirt.

When he broke away, he took a few deep breaths to steady himself. “I wanted to ask you something,” he said, leaning against the wall opposite her and shoving his hands into his back pockets.

“What?”

He licked his lips. “Um - how much did you really want to visit Hogsmeade today?”

She shrugged. “I still have some Christmas shopping to do, but I guess I don’t have to do it _today._ I just figured you’d like to get out of the castle for your birthday.”

“We could,” he said slowly. “Or… um…”

“Spit it out, Scorpius.”

He met her gaze squarely. “So - I know you just sat at the Slytherin table, but - well - er - it’s just that everyone in my dormitory is definitely going to Hogsmeade, so it’ll be empty all day, and…”

He hadn’t looked away from her, but he was fidgeting quite a lot. She decided to take him off the hook - it _was_ his birthday, after all.

“You want us to stay back from Hogsmeade and sneak me into your dormitory?”

He shrugged. “I just thought if you borrowed the cloak from James…”

She considered the proposition. On one hand, the idea of going into the Slytherin Common Room and dormitories was disconcerting; _dating_ a Slytherin was one thing, but going into the heart of their House was quite another. She didn’t think that even Albus had been in the Slytherin Common Room before, though she could be wrong.

But on the other, the promise of spending hours in an empty dormitory - even if it _was_ his Slytherin dormitory - with her boyfriend was very, very tempting. 

Temptation quickly won out. Sneaking off to empty classrooms and secret passages for alone time was getting old in a hurry. “Sure, let me go ask him before he leaves.”

Scorpius looked a little taken aback. “Wait, was that seriously that easy? I thought I’d have to beg you for at least a few minutes to step foot inside the Slytherin Common Room.”

“Well, normally you would. But an empty dormitory is pretty tempting.”

His grin was back. “Um - I should probably go pretend to get ready to go to Hogsmeade, so nobody decides to hang back and spoil my birthday because they’re jerks.”

“And I should go get the cloak from James. Meet you on the steps in twenty minutes?”

“Sounds good.” He was looking very, very pleased with himself.

When she got back to Gryffindor tower, Rose headed up the stairs to the boys’ dormitories rather than the girls’. When she reached the sixth years’ door, she tapped loudly. “James?”

The door swung open. Her cousin was already wearing his hat, scarf, and gloves - she and Scorpius had gotten distracted for longer than she’d thought. “What’s up, Rosie?”

“Can I have a word?” she asked. She knew that both Tyler and Julian would tease her mercilessly if they overheard her request.

James stepped into the stairwell and closed the door. “What’s going on? Why aren’t you getting ready?”

“Er - I don’t think I’m going. Can I borrow the cloak?”

He studied her for a minute. A grin quickly began to creep across his face. “Oh, Merlin. You don’t have any plans to sneak into another House’s dormitories, do you, Rose?” She felt her face get hot, and he grinned. “Have fun. I actually don’t have it, Albus does, but sure, go ahead.”

Rose managed to mumble a thank you before heading down to the fifth years’ dormitory instead. Five minutes and a couple teasing remarks from Albus later, she’d stuffed the cloak into her bag and headed downstairs in her coat and hat. When she met Scorpius, they dawdled long enough to make sure that the other boys in his dormitory left and to allow the stragglers to empty the halls before they headed downstairs.

Not even the sight on the wall opening onto a dimly-lit corridor when Scorpius said “Parseltongue” was enough to dissuade her. Hidden by the cloak, she followed him closely through the Common Room, which was deserted other than a handful of first and second years, and up the spiral staircase that led to the boys’ dormitories. Once they’d stepped inside his and he’d closed the door behind her, she pulled off the cloak.

He tapped the doorknob with his wand and muttered something. In response to her inquisitive look, he said, “I’m just locking it - sometimes the first and second years think it’s funny to pull pranks during Hogsmeade weekends. We came back once last year to the smell of dungbombs.”

She winced in sympathy.

He slipped off his shoes and headed to the bed nearest the thick glass window. “This one’s mine,” he said, flopping onto it. Once she’d joined him on it, she looked around the room in interest.

In some ways, it really wasn’t _that_ different from the Gryffindor dormitories - the beds were the same, though the blankets and hangings were a deep emerald green rather than bright red, and it was about as messy as Albus’s dormitory tended to be. However, unlike the Gryffindor dormitories, where the windows opened onto the cool air, the window by Scorpius’s bed was clearly never meant to open; through the murky light, she could see fish swimming by. The lack of natural light also gave the room - and the Common Room below - an eerie, haunted feel to it.

She shivered. “How do you sleep like this?” she asked him. “It’s so gloomy.”

“Pretty easily. It was a little weird at first to not have a real window, but you get used to it. I like it.” He stretched out and grinned. “Never thought I’d get _you_ in here, though.”

She made a face at him. “Yeah, well. Do you want your present?”

Scorpius considered that for a minute. His hair almost appeared to be tinged green in the ghostly light, and Rose had the sudden urge to run her fingers through it. “Later?” he said finally.

She decided to take that as the invitation it undoubtedly was and shifted up the bed until she was next to him. He let out a very contented sigh when she cuddled up to him, and after a moment, she felt his arm tighten around her shoulders.

This was all very nice, but Rose was not a patient person, and there were other things she wanted to do a lot more than _cuddle._ After a couple minutes of laying there in silence, Scorpius cleared his throat. “You’re not loving this, are you?”

She made a face and pushed herself into a sitting position. “No, I do,” she said. “It’s nice.”

“But?”

Rose began to toy with one of her curls. “I want other things more.”

He propped himself up on his elbows, looking intrigued. “Like what?”

“Like kissing.” He grinned and reached for her, but she pulled back before he could grab hold of her elbows. “And it would be nice if you weren’t wearing a shirt anymore.”

_That_ made him laugh. “Rose -”

She leaned forward and tugged at the bottom of his shirt. “Scorpius, I’m _serious.”_

He rolled his eyes and yanked the shirt over his head. “Better?” he asked, tossing it toward the foot of the bed.

“Much.” Now she let him pull her back onto the bed with him for a very enjoyable afternoon.

He really was very good as kissing, and she quite liked him without a shirt on.


	40. The Hogwarts Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rose and Scorpius ride the Hogwarts Express and meet each other's parents.
> 
>  
> 
> _“You went from being ‘the most obnoxious person in the world’ to ‘the most brilliant girlfriend ever’ virtually overnight.”_

Riding the Hogwarts Express with Scorpius-Malfoy-her-boyfriend took a little getting used to. She generally rode the train with James, Roxanne, and some of their friends, and when she thought about it, she wasn’t sure a year had gone by where she and Scorpius didn’t get into some argument during the ride.

Which was, in retrospect, really quite impressive - she certainly hadn’t managed to do so with anyone else.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

Rose, who’d been watching the bare trees through the train window as she thought, started. “What?” she asked, turning her attention back to the compartment.

Scorpius looked a little amused; his grey eyes were gleaming, and as she studied him, he ran a hand through his hair in a way that vaguely reminded her of her cousin James. Knowing that he’d be horrified by the comparison, though, she kept her mouth shut.

“Oh, you know. This and that.” She glanced over at Albus and Noah, who were sitting across from them. Their attention seemed fixed on the chessboard sitting on the seat between them.

Sitting in such an empty compartment was taking some getting used to, too. Usually, she was squeezing into a compartment with twice this many people.

She lowered her voice. “I was just thinking about how you always managed to pick a fight with me.”

“Well, there’s still time for that.” She elbowed him, and he grinned. “Yeah, I was actually just thinking that it’s a lot nicer to ride the train with my arm around my pretty girlfriend than it is to stew about the pretty girl I fancy.”

She kissed his cheek, and his smile turned into a smirk.

“Gag me,” Albus muttered. He appeared to have lost the chess game. The sunlight streaming through the window was making his red hair glow almost as brightly as Rose was sure hers was. “I think I might have actually preferred the feuding.”

“No, you didn’t,” Noah said, glancing up from the box he’d just finished putting his pieces into. _“I_ might have, though the jealous jerk routine _was_ getting a little old.”

Scorpius seemed to be ignoring them both, though Rose suspected him of having distinctly ulterior motives when he gently turned her face toward him and leaned in for a kiss.

Rose smiled and kissed him back. His grip on her tightened, and she gave a loud squeak as he pulled her into his lap and opened his mouth.

Before she could decide whether to have some respect for their friends’ sensibilities or to just take whatever snogging she could get before a long Christmas holiday, a small box hit Scorpius in the side of the head. In the process of jerking back from Rose, he slammed his head into the window.

He cursed and raised a hand to his head. _“Ow.”_

“Are you okay?” Rose asked, scrambling up to peer at his head.

He leaned around her to glare at his cousin, whose face was buried in his book. “Noah, you’re a prat.”

Noah shrugged and turned the page. “Serves you right.”

Rose exchanged a look with Albus. “It does, you know,” the red-haired boy told Scorpius. “You’re being a little bit of a prat yourself. You know that if you do starting doing that when you visit her, my uncle might actually kill you, right?”

“Well, only if we get caught - and why do you think I’m getting it out of my system now?”

Albus began to rummage in his bag. “Sure, that’s _exactly_ what you’re doing.” He pulled out a few scraps of parchment. “Hey, Rosie, are you done with your Christmas shopping?”

Rose shook her head. “I meant to do it during the Hogsmeade visit a couple weeks ago, but - er - well, you know.”

“That you snuck into the Slytherin dormitories to spend the afternoon kissing your boyfriend instead?”

Noah glanced up from his book again. Rose got the distinct impression that he wasn’t actually reading it - he was just using it as an excuse to not get drawn into an extended conversation about Rose and Scorpius’s relationship, which he’d told her a week earlier that he’d grown quite bored of hearing about. “Not that I’m not happy for you both, of course,” he’d hastened to add. “It’s just that the incessant ‘Rose Weasley this’ and ‘Rose that’ and ‘I’m meeting Rose here’ and ‘Rose’s hair looked so pretty today, don’t you think?’ has started to get really old, especially since he never says anything new.”

“I can’t blame them, Al,” he said now, referring to Rose’s trip into his dormitory. _”I_ wouldn’t want to take all my clothes off in some random passage.”

Rose felt her face get red, and all laziness in Albus’s face immediately vanished. He shot up. “You did _what?”_

Thankfully, this question seemed to be directed at Scorpius rather than Rose. Whatever her boyfriend said about Albus’s feelings about their relationship, Rose continued to feel like there was a little unnecessary protectiveness over her mixed in with everything else. That usually annoyed her, but she didn’t want to get into that particular fight today.

When she glanced across the compartment at Noah, his dark eyes were glittering with amusement. She rolled her eyes at him, and he winked back.

“Er -” Her boyfriend suddenly bore a marked resemblance to a trapped rabbit. Rose sat back to watch whether he’d come at Albus with a denial or a demand for privacy.

“Yes?”

Scorpius split the difference. “Not that it’s your business,” he told her cousin pointedly, “but Noah’s exaggerating. We did not take _all_ our clothes off.”

Rose winced. The emphasis her boyfriend had put on the word ‘all’ was both almost certain to be unhelpful and not actually necessary - they really had both remained mostly clothed. It was also her experience that the more you said in your defense, the less effective it was. She wasn’t quite sure _why_ it worked that way, but somehow, it did.

Albus, predictably, was not at all pacified. “Great,” he said. “Just great. Scorpius, can you at least _try_ to keep your hands off my cousin? For a few hours?”

Scorpius regarded his best friend for a few moments before turning back to Rose. Apparently, he’d decided to switch tactics and start treating the question as though it were simply below him. “So, are you looking forward to meeting my parents?”

Rose felt her face get hot. “Er - yes. Actually.”

“Better hope no one mentions it to Jo,” Noah told Scorpius, whose smile evaporated and was immediately replaced with a look of horror.

“I thought you _liked_ your cousin Johanna,” Albus said. “And I think she’s nice.”

“I do like her,” Scorpius said. “But one of her ‘little baby cousin’s’ first real girlfriend’? And her boss’s daughter on top of it? She’ll be a complete nightmare.”

“She sounds interesting,” Rose put in. “I wouldn’t mind meeting her at all.”

“You wouldn’t,” he muttered. “It’s not you she’d be embarrassing.” 

That prospect sobered him enough that he stopped kissing Rose incessantly for at least an hour. Albus and Noah seemed to welcome the respite, though Rose was less enthusiastic about it. He seemed to feel better after Evelyn stopped in and he managed to extract a promise from her that she’d try to dissuade her sister from dropping by Scorpius’s while Rose was visiting, but just as he was putting his arm around her again, the door slid open again and a dark-haired boy with very messy hair stopped in.

Scorpius’s arm returned to his side quickly. Rose grinned - he still hadn’t quite figured out just what to make of James.

From the other boy’s grin, he knew exactly what was going through Scorpius’s head, but instead of drawing attention to it, he leaned against the doorway and started chatting with them about Quidditch and Christmas shopping. Noah seemed even more taken aback than Scorpius when James commented that they should come join the Potter-Weasley cousins for pick-up games of Quidditch over the summer. Thankfully, he vanished soon after that, leaving both Slytherin boys to process what had just happened.

“He’s mad,” Scorpius muttered. “Albus, your brother is insane.”

Albus shrugged. “He’s being nice to you. Don’t act so shocked, I’ve told you for _years_ that he can be nice when he wants to.”

“But he’s being nice to _us.”_

By that point, they were starting to near the station. Rose felt her stomach give a very uncomfortable lurch - she really _was_ interested to meet Scorpius’s parents, but there was a fair bit of anxiety caught up in the whole thing, especially since it had just occurred to her that _he_ would be meeting _her_ parents, too - and her father hadn’t stopped sending prying letters yet.

Scorpius caught her hand as they got off the train. As he led her across the platform, her eyes immediately went to a tall, thin man with very pale blond hair. The resemblance was remarkable; that _had_ to be Scorpius’s father, who she’d never paid much attention to before. The brunette woman next to him had a soft, kind face which broke into a wide smile when she saw them.

Rose let Scorpius lead her toward them, half-wishing that she didn’t like Scorpius quite so much. Then she could just sidestep this awkwardness.

Albus, who followed them, gave a quiet snort - he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

“Hello, Mrs. Malfoy,” she said politely, clenching her hands behind her so no one but her cousin could see them tremble. “Hello, Mr. Malfoy.”

Scorpius’s mother had a very open, genuine smile, which Rose found a little disarming. “Oh, please don’t,” she said. “‘Mrs. Malfoy’ is my husband’s mother, and I’d really much rather not be . You can call me Astoria.” When she saw Rose’s hesitation, she added, “Or Ms. Greengrass, if you’re more comfortable with that.”

Rose nodded. “It’s nice to meet you,” she replied. Then she turned to Scorpius’s father.

He was regarding her with some amusement. “Hello, Rose,” he said cheerfully. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Most of it bad, I’m sure,” she muttered before she could stop herself.

Scorpius, who had just finished exchanging hugs with his mother, coughed. His father threw an amused look at him before turning back to Rose. “Not recently,” he said. “You went from being ‘the most obnoxious person in the world’ to ‘the most brilliant girlfriend ever’ virtually overnight.”

She glanced at Scorpius, whose face was rapidly turning red. “I did _not_ write _that.”_

“Near enough,” Mr. Malfoy said. He offered his hand to Rose, and she took it. His handshake was friendly, and there was nothing in his manner that suggested any consternation about his son’s romantic choices.

She managed a small smile. “It’s nice to meet you,” she repeated. Her stomach had stopped trying to tie itself in knots.

“Likewise.” He let go of her hand and turned to Albus, who knew Scorpius’s parents fairly well.

“Rose!”

Her stomach immediately began to twist into knots again, and she shoved her hands into her pockets before turning around. “Hi, Mum. Hi, Dad.”

They’d already found Hugo, whose eyes were gleaming at the prospect of the very awkward scene that awaited them. Her parents swept her up into hugs, though her father’s was a little perfunctory. Once he’d let her go, he looked at Scorpius’s father.

“Hello, Weasley,” Scorpius’s father said cheerfully. He offered his hand.

Rose’s father examined it with distaste. “Malfoy,” he said after a moment, taking it. It was unclear whether he was more uncomfortable with this or with the considerably more cordial greeting Mr. Malfoy exchanged with Rose’s mother.

Once she’d greeted him, she turned to Scorpius. “Hello,” she said cheerfully. “I’m Rose’s mother, Hermione Weasley. We’ve met before, of course.”

Scorpius smiled tentatively at her. “Hi,” he said.

His mother looked like she was trying to hide a smile. “Hello, Ron,” she said. Is my niece still making trouble for you?”

Rose’s father finally managed to relax a little. “If she’d just do her damn paperwork-”

Rose realized with a start that they were talking about Scorpius’s cousin Johanna. Scorpius had clearly come to the same realization, because now he was looking alarmed in addition to still being a little red.

“Mum, you haven’t mentioned Rose visiting to her, have you?”

His mother frowned at him. “No, I don’t think so.”

Scorpius breathed an enormous sigh of relief and turned to Rose’s father. “Hi, Mr. Weasley. It’s nice to meet you.”

Rose’s father looked a little bemused by his daughter’s boyfriend’s panic, but he shook Scorpius’s hand anyway. “You don’t like your cousin?” he asked.

“No! I love my cousin, she’s just… well…”

Rose’s father smiled for the first time since he’d approached them. “Johanna is, all right. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it to her, either.”

Scorpius let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Um - it’s nice to meet you.”

“You’ve said. Speaking of that _visit-”_

As their parents started to hammer out the finer details of their prospective visits - which included Rose’s father expressing new reservations about the whole thing and insisting that if it _had_ to happen at all, all bedroom doors should be charmed in at least half a dozen ways to prevent “inappropriate behavior,” and Scorpius’s father emphasizing how very _happy_ he and Scorpius’s mother were to host the girl Scorpius had clearly become _so fond of_ for a few days - Scorpius sidled closer to Rose.

“I’m off,” Albus said. “Mum and Dad must be looking for me.”

“I think they’re over there.” Hugo pointed toward the front of the train. “They were, anyway. James and Roxanne were teaching Lily new jinxes ‘for the holiday season.’ Better be careful - she might try them out on you.”

Albus set off at a run.

“That wasn’t that bad,” Scorpius said to her. “Right?”

Rose shook her head, though her father had started to glower at Scorpius’s father, who had just corrected him when he called Scorpius “my daughter’s friend.”

“You know they’re probably going to put him in my room,” Hugo said in an undertone.

“I know.”

“You know, you guys could probably bribe me to help you get around any charms they put on the door.”

Rose grinned. “I knew I loved you, Hugo.”

Her brother smiled back. It was good to have siblings.

“I don’t like him,” Rose’s father declared when they’d finally gotten to the car.

Rose bristled, but before she could say anything, her mother let out a loud laugh. “You barely know him, Ron, and I think you _did_ like him.”

Rose’s father didn’t seem to have a response to that.

Her mother twisted around in the front seat to smile at her. “Well, Rosie, _I_ think he seems very nice, and I’m excited to have him visit.”

The knots in Rose’s stomach were starting to loosen, and she was a little surprised to find that she was starting to be genuinely excited, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you'd like to continue to follow Rose and Scorpius, check out the sequel: The Wrinkles of the Road.
> 
> Also, if you haven't read them yet, The Hogwarts Express and Falling for Rose Weasley are both prequels from Scorpius's POV.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, kudos-ing, bookmarking, and/or commenting. ♥


End file.
